
Mf)t jflan of £§>orrotog 



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Class _JSH 
Book 



61 



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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 






I 




tEfie Jfflan of 
ij>orrotoei 

Being a Little Journey 
to the Home of Jesus 
of Nazareth, written 
by Elbert Hubbard 




Done into a Printed Book 
by The Roycrofters at their 
Shop in East Aurora, N. Y. 
Nineteen Hundred and Eight 




^ 



UBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

DEC 26 1S08 

a CapyriiE.it tntry _ 
«USS <*~ XXc No, 

-J 






COPY 



Copyright 1904-1905 

by 

ELBERT HUBBARD 









THE MAN OF SORROWS 



What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe 
that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. 
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught 
against any : that your Father also which is in heaven 
may forgive you your trespasses. Mark xi. 24-25 



The vice of our theology is seen in the claim that the 
Bible is a closed book; that the age of inspiration is 
past; and that Jesus was something different from 
a man. Emerson 



TO HIM THAT WAS CRUCIFIED 
My spirit to yours, dear brother, 
Do not mind because many sounding your name do 

not understand you, 
I do not sound your name, but I understand you, 
I specify you with joy O my comrade to salute you, 

and to salute those who are with you, before and 

since, and those to come also, 
That we all labor together transmitting the same 

charge and succession, 
We few equals; indifferent of lands, indifferent of 

times; 
We, enclosers of all continents, all castes, allowers 

of all theologies, 
Compassionaters, perceivers, rapport of men, 
We walk silent among disputes and assertions, but 

reject not the disputers nor anything that is 

asserted, 
We hear the bawling and din, we are reach'd at by 

divisions, jealousies, recriminations on every side, 
They close peremptorily upon us to surround us, my 

comrade, 
Yet we walk upheld, free, the whole earth over, 

journeying up and down till we make our inefface- 
able mark upon time and the diverse eras, 
Till we saturate time and eras, that the men and 

women of races, ages to come, may prove 

brethren and lovers as we are. 

—WALT WHITMAN 



jforetoorb 



/MM^HIS simple sketch seeks to be history ^t And 
/ history is a branch of the science of Sociology. 

^^^V Of miracle Sociology knows naught, any more 
than does modern jurisprudence — the miracu- 
lous would not now be admitted as evidence in any 
court in Christendom. The test of innocence is no 
longer to walk on red-hot iron, and the admissions 
of a witch or one possessed by devils are referred to 
the trained nurse or pathologist. 
We seek the truth, and in so doing we believe we best 
honor ourselves and our Maker. 

History has nothing to do with miracle, any more than 
has geology, astronomy or chemistry, and from these 
the supernatural has been forever barred and banished. 
No miracle has ever been proved — they all come to us 
at second-hand, by people who saw people who said 
they saw people who saw them. By no modern rules 
of evidence can miracles be even considered where 
truth and justice are sought. The miraculous strikes 
at the integrity of Nature. To admit that a Supreme 
Being might interfere with chemical law, would render 
science vain and learning a delusion and folly. 
Biology and history know nothing of "the fall of man. " 
So far as we know, the race has risen constantly in 
general well-being and intelligence. Man has fallen 
upward. 

When Napoleon ironically asked, "What is history 
but a lie agreed upon?" he had in mind that peculiar 
form of history which believed "there is a divinity 
which doth hedge a king," and which has always 
been written with the intent to uphold some man or 
institution. And for this defense was the writer of 



ji jforetoorb 

such history paid «jt The men who yet uphold the 
miraculous are those who gain a livelihood by so 
doing. Charles Bradlaugh forever forced the admission 
upon the courts of the civilized world that the affirma- 
tion of a man who does not believe in the miraculous 
is just as valuable as the oath of the man who does jt 
The recompense of the historian is the approval of his 
Inmost Self that he has endeavored to express the truth. 
1$ The reward for a good deed is to have done it. 
Yet absolute historical truth is, perhaps, impossible. 
Truth is a point of view. And so truth cannot be final 
nor absolute nor binding upon all. The author of this 
sketch claims nothing beyond the fact that for himself 
he has, in degree, expressed the truth. 
The task of the scientist is to construct the skeleton 
of a mastodon from the fragment of a bone: and the 
task of the historian is to take the scattered fragments 
of record, legend, song, myth and fable, and give to 
us an accurate, vivid picture of a passing procession. 
The historian is one who resurrects the past and makes 
those long dead live again. 

The history of a country is only the biography of her 
great men; and the history of Palestine — and we might 
say of the entire Christian world — forever swings, like 
planets 'round a central sun, about the memory of the 
Man of Sorrows. 

References such as that of a miraculous star that 
appeared in the East and guided certain wise men 
to the stable where the young child lay, need not now 
be considered seriously. The star was conjured forth 
by an astrologer and not by an astronomer. Since 



Jforetporb jjj 

Copernicus put the astrologers out of the society of 
astronomers, stories of vagrant stars, seen by a few, 
or "sent as a sign," have no place in science. When 
men believed that stars were God's jewels, hung in 
the heavens by angels to amaze men and magnify 
God's power in their sight, such stories were not 
unusual. Even yet they surely have a place in that 
great museum of strange and curious things in which 
men, in civilization's dawn, have implicitly believed. 
Belief or disbelief in dryads, naiads, witches, ghosts, 
devils, angels, gnomes, fairies, men with one parent, 
and women with none, will not fix for us our place 
in eternity, and should not in society here and now. 
<I Vagrant stars would do violence to astronomy; 
the laws of the Universe, unfailing, unchanging, 
are the true miracle, and not their capricious undoing 
to suit trivial circumstances. The theology of the past, 
which admitted the miraculous, limited God's power 
in that it made Him subject to anger, whim, mood, 
notion and caprice. 

He changeth not, and in Him there is no variableness 
nor shadow of turning. 



Wbt Jtet of ^orrotos; 




HE town of Nazareth 
where Jesus grew up 
to manhood has now 
about four thousand 
people. At that time 
it had, probably, but 
half this number. It is 
situated in a beautiful 
and fertile valley in 
Galilee in the northern 
part of Palestine jt 
There are great towering mountains above and 
beyond, green at the base, and growing rocky 
and rugged as you ascend. In this vicinity was 
the home of the Shulamite maiden, of whom 
Solomon sung. Solomon gives us glimpses of 
this beautiful valley — the pomegranates and the 
figs, the maize and the melons, the swaying 
corn-flowers, the many-hued morning-glories 
that clambered over the simple cottages, the 
shepherds and their flocks, the kine on the hills 
and the goats that leaped from rock to rock jfe 
Much of the country has now grown arid, 
and as the years have passed, Islam has left 
it desolate ^fc The giant cedars of Lebanon, 
that once towered toward the sun and tossed 



12 fcjjc jfflan of gmnrotog 

their branches in defiance to the storm, are 
gone, but even yet the gardens in the spring- 
time are fresh and green, and the foothills 
above the town and the valleys below laugh 
in glee with their carpet of flowers. 
On the west is Mount Carmel, that lifts a jagged 
front against the sky, like a great stone face; 
and in the early morning when the wind blows 
in with messages from the sea, great white 
clouds of mist reel and roll up the mountain 
side like drunken giants. Down "the valley one 
catches glimpses of Endor where once lived a 
terrible witch; beyond is Mount Tabor; to the 
north is Mount Hermon, rich in story and 
legend. To the south lies the desert of Judea, 
desolate and wind-swept, and the rocky road 
that winds in and out among the barren sands, 
loses itself like a thread, on to Jerusalem, two 
days' journey, or sixty miles away. 
Above the town on the little plateau sleeps 
Mary the mother of Jesus; in a near-by tomb 
rests the dust of Joseph the honest carpenter, 
his foster-father, side by side with thousands 
of simple Nazarenes, who to us are nameless. 
<IThe square little stone houses, mostly of one 
room, are there about as they were two thou- 
sand years ago — the same narrow streets, the 



Wf&t JMan of g>orrotoa 13 

winding alleys where the brown, barefoot 
children frolic, just as when the little son of 
Mary played and romped, or wandered over 
the grassy slopes, climbed the rugged rocks, 
or waded in the little stream that the freshets 
of summer transformed, to the delight of the 
children, into a rushing torrent. 
In Nazareth there is no court of fashion, no 
famed schools where scholars teach, no wealth 
nor flaunting equipage. The synagogue is only 
a barren stone structure, devoid of ornament, 
somewhat larger than the largest of the houses. 
<JThe poverty of the place, however, is more 
apparent than real, for this, we must remember, 
is a land where little is needed. Here there is 
no struggle to maintain life, nor is there strife 
for place and power. The winter is short and 
not severe, and very much of the time the 
entire family lives out of doors. The women 
grind their corn at the mills, milk their goats, 
tend their gardens, look after the climbing 
trumpet-flowers, and carry their tall jugs to the 
public well. The men work at weaving, at 
simple blacksmithing, carpentering; mend the 
stone walls, and now and then help in the 
construction of a new house, built just like 
the rest. There is plenty, for wants are few, 



14 gEfre Jflan of gmrrotog 

and in the evening, old men sit on the benches 
of stone and gravely talk. 
Around the memories of men of power, who 
write their names large on history's page, 
myth and legend weave their garlands in the 
endeavor to add lustre to the fame that does 
not need their aid, and "seven towns struggle 
for the honor of being their birthplace." 
The legend that Jesus was born at Bethlehem 
evolved into being many years after his death. 
David was born in this Judean village, and the 
prophecy that when he was reincarnated he 
would again be born there, was made by the 
Prophet Micah ■ & The "taxing" mentioned 
occured ten years after the death of Herod, 
and both Matthew and Luke state that the 
birth of Jesus took place during the reign of 
Herod. Besides, in going to Jerusalem, Joseph 
and Mary must pass out of their way to reach 
Bethlehem — this town being directly south of 
Jerusalem, while Nazareth is directly north. 
CJIn any event, the mere locality of a man's 
birth is not vital, and counts for little. All agree 
that the stay at Bethlehem was very short, 
and that Nazareth was the childhood home of 
Jesus. During his life, and long afterward, he 
was spoken of as "the Nazarene." 



fcfjc Jflan of ^orrotog is 

The Romans never issued any order to kill all 
children under two years old. Such an order 
at the time of Christ would have been as absurd 
as if issued now in Canada. The Romans at 
the time Christ was born were sticklers for law; 
neither Herod, nor any other Roman governor, 
ever gave an order to kill children under any 
condition, fj The myths and legends of this man's 
birth are trivial, childish and unimportant. 
<IThe real questions that interest us are: Who 
was this wonderful and unselfish individual? 
What did he strive to do? 
What did he accomplish? 

^SRjSB^HE parents of Jesus were simple, 
g\ earnest, and intelligent people — 

fl ■ neither rich nor poor, without titles, 
^fyL m jr position or proud pedigree. 

Jesus never called himself the 
"Son of David,' } and the attempt to make 
him the pretender to the Jewish Throne, by 
giving him an unbroken pedigree from David, 
was evidently worked out by sectarians who 
did not believe in or had never heard of his 
miraculous birth. 

The line of David had died out centuries before, 
and most of the men named by Matthew and 



16 ®fje JUan of '&orroto* 

gMMMg—a— HM8M—W B— i WIIP I i'ia OM^MMBWMEW^HM—— — —g— 

Luke as progenitors of Jesus, evidently never 
had any existence outside of their own lively 
imaginations. Matthew and Luke do not agree 
in their records. Matthew climbs the genea- 
logical tree to David and there stops, but Luke 
in his zeal follows the line clear to Adam and 
then to God, to prove its purity. 
If Joseph had been the direct heir to the 
Jewish throne he doubtless would have known 
it and told of it. In his community he would 
have been a marked man. Neither the high 
priests of Jewry, Herod, nor the rulers of 
Rome knew of any lineal descendants of King 
David, and none such could have escaped them 
if they had existed. Besides this, the entire 
Christian faith is built upon the declaration 
that Joseph was not a blood relative of Jesus. 
According to the record, Joseph was a simple, 
honest, unpretentious man of middle age. 
Before Joseph and Mary entered upon their 
married life, Joseph discovered that Mary was 
ere long to become a mother. It seems also that 
Joseph was on the point of putting his wife 
away, but something in his heart aroused his 
better nature and he stood by the friendless 
woman in spite of her disgrace. We have the 
plain and undisputed record that Joseph denied 



(Eft* ifian of &orrotog 17 

being the father of Jesus. So we thus have 

three propositions: 

One: The declaration that Jesus had but one 

parent. 

Two: That Matthew and Luke, who gave a 

royal line to Joseph, believed that Joseph was 

the father of Jesus. 

Three: The claim of Joseph that he was not 

the father of Jesus, backed up by Mary herself, 

and the presumption, therefore, that Mary had 

some unknown lover. 

From what we know of biology, and by the 

exercise of our knowledge as rational beings, 

we are compelled to discard the hypothesis in 

Number One. 

In the light of the disavowal of both Joseph 

and Mary, and the uncorroborated claim of 

royal pedigree, we must also discard Number 

Two as untenable. 

This leaves only Number Three with which to 

deal. And since Mary herself, the mother of 

Jesus, corroborates Joseph in the statement 

that Joseph was not the parent, we are forced 

to assume that the father of her child was an 

unknown lover of Mary who deserted her at 

the critical moment, and thus forever forfeited 

his claim on immortality. 



is &fre jfflan of &orrotog 

Of all men who have blundered, no man ever 
blundered more or worse. Oblivion now has 
swallowed him, where otherwise he might 
have worn a crown of glory. 
When confronted and questioned, Mary would 
not name her lover, but took refuge in the 
naive statement, "An angel visited me in a 
dream !" 

It is the answer that loving woman has given 
since time began J* No sweeter and more 
touching reply was ever given by motherhood 
when attacked by coarse, leering brutality: 
"An angel visited me in a dream." Beyond 
this she would not speak. To her the matter 
was sacred, and the hearts of all good men and 
women, everywhere, must go out to her in 
love and sympathy. 

No judge, no jury, no lawyer can in the face 
of the facts, say anything else than this : " We 
do not know who was the father of Jesus." 
fJHowever, the word "illegitimate" is not 
in God's vocabulary; but if its use is ever 
admissible, it should be applied wholly to the 
defective, the incompetent, the degenerate, 
the non-cogibund, and never to the brave, the 
beautiful, the radiant, the unselfish and the 
intelligent. tfSays Ernst Haeckel: 



Cfte jfflan of gmrrotog i9 

MUmj'~E.E dogma of the immaculate conception 
/ 1 seems, perhaps, to be less audacious and 
%J \j significant than the dogma of the infalli- 
bility of the pope. Yet not only the Roman 
hierarchy, but even some of the orthodox Protest- 
ants (the Evangelical Alliance, for instance) attach 
great importance to this thesis. 
What is known as the " immaculate oath" — that is, 
the confirmation of faith by an oath taken on the 
immaculate conception of Mary — is still regarded 
by millions of Christians as a sacred obligation. 
Comparative and critical theology has recently shown 
that this myth has no greater claim to originality than 
most of the other stories in the Christian mythology; 
it has been borrowed from older religions, especially 
Buddhism. Similar myths were widely circulated in 
India, Persia, Asia Minor, and Greece several centuries 
before the birth of Christ. Whenever a king's unwedded 
daughter, or some other maid of high degree, gave birth 
to a child, the father was always pronounced to be a 
god, or a demi-god; in the Christian case it was the 
Holy Ghost. 

The special endowments of mind or body which often 
distinguish these " children of love" above the ordinary 
offspring were thus partly explained by " heredity." 
Distinguished "sons of God" of this kind were held in 
high esteem both in antiquity and during the Middle 
Ages, while the moral code of modern civilization 
reproaches them with their want of honorable par- 
entage j* This applies even more forcibly to 
11 daughters of God," though the poor maidens are 



20 fcfjc jllan of ^orrotog 

just as little to blame for their want of a father. For 
the rest, every one who is familiar with the beautiful 
mythology of classical antiquity knows that these sons 
and daughters of the Greek and Roman gods often 
approach nearest to the highest ideal of humanity. 

/H^fcP'/'ESUS had sisters who grew up and 

_£ m were married at Nazareth. He also 

J had brothers. For them he had little 

f W regard — family ties were nothing to 

0B&/ him. Like all men over whose birth 

there is a cloud, he recognized only 

the kinship of the spirit. So we hear of his 

asking almost contemptuously, "Who is my 

brother?' ' He had two cousins, sons of Mary 

Cleophas, sister of his mother, who were very 

much attached to him, and called themselves 

"the brothers of our Lord." His earnest, 

thoughtful ways set him apart from the rest 

and he was regarded as strange and different. 

They did not understand him — they could not 

— and evidently had little faith in his unusual, 

strange and peculiar ways. 



Cfte jttan of gmrrotog 21 

^■■pto^HE word Galilee means "mixed." 
m\ It was evidently so used because 

II of the extremely varied population 
^k^ J which inhabited the province. 

There were Egyptians, Syrians, 
Greeks and Jews — the latter being somewhat 
in the majority. Many were reckoned as Jews 
who had simply married into Jewish families; 
for a Gentile to become a Jew, no particular 
rite was required. The assumption is that Jesus 
was a Jew by birth, yet of Mary's genealogy 
we know nothing, and of course, we are also 
ignorant of the unknown father of Jesus. That 
Jesus did not have the fixed and idolatrous 
regard for the Jewish Laws that the orthodox 
Jew had, we know full well. He quite often 
disregarded the laws openly and encouraged 
his disciples to do the same, spurning the old 
rules, giving them commandments of his own 
for their guidance. 

Joseph treated the boy as his own, kindly and 
gently, and brought him up to be useful; to wait 
on himself; to respect his elders and to do good 
work. He learned the carpenter's trade which 
then included that of the stone-mason, working 
side by side with Joseph. Doubtless Jesus was 
also a pupil at the village school taught by the 



22 fcjje gan of gorrgg 

"hazzan," or schoolmaster, who was really 
the janitor of the synagogue, which served 
both as schoolhouse and temple. 
The children were taught to read by reciting 
in concert, repeating over and over again the 
same thing. This method of teaching was in 
general operation, even in America, up to 
within a very few years ago. 
This bright, active, and impressionable boy 
learned by hearing the older ones recite; by 
listening to Joseph and the neighbors as they 
sat and discussed the Law and the Prophets 
after the day's work was done; from the 
chance visitors who came along at times; and 
from the peddlers who carried their curious 
wares and trinkets for the women-folk. 
Nazareth was not a pagan town like Caesarea, 
where the Roman politicians lived and Greek 
learning had taken root. Evidently Jesus knew 
nothing of Greek culture, but he did know 
something of Buddhism. Where he got this 
knowledge we do not know — it is probable 
that he evolved it, for ideas are in the air, and 
belong to all who can appropriate them; or 
some traveler might have let fall the seeds by 
the wayside. 
In towns like Nazareth there was no caste — 



gEfje jflatt of g>orrotog 23 

all one person knew belonged to the rest. The 
conversation was full and free. And that this 
boy with his thoughtful ways and his thirst 
to know, and all of his fine energy, absorbed 
ideas on every hand, there is no doubt. He 
knew all that the best in the place knew, and 
all he himself knew besides. 
Like all country boys he was familiar with the 
birds of the air, the lilies of the field, and the 
foxes that made their holes beneath the rocks. 
fJThe lake, exaggeratedly called the Sea of 
Galilee, twelve miles long and seven wide, was 
only a few miles away, and there he used to go 
with his companions to fish; so the process of 
fishing and the handling of boats was to him 
familiar. He grew to be very fond of these 
fisher-folk who lived along the lake. They were 
strong, hardy, companionable men with the 
dash of the hero in them. 
Jesus was not an educated person in our sense of 
the word, and this is most fortunate. Learning 
tames and dilutes a man; he grows to reverence 
authorities and things that are dead, and so he 
gradually loses his own God-given heritage of 
self-reliance. A reformer must of a necessity 
be more or less ignorant. In fact, the finest 
nobility is only possible in a man who has 



24 Cfte jUan of &ortotog 

never had a teacher — who acknowledges no 
authority but the God within. As a general 
proposition, ignorance and isolation are both 
necessary in the equipment of the supremely 
great who are to mold the minds of men and 
break up the firm ankylosis of social habit, 
fixed thought and ossified custom. Learning 
hesitates and defers, but ignorance is bold. 
Originality is not a thing that is fostered by the 
schools — a statement that requires no proof. 
^ Some of the words of Jesus are paraphrases 
from Buddha Siddhartha, but these were old 
maxims, floating free, known in all countries, 
and repeated from mouth to mouth by men of 
a certain temperament. 

A Jewish rabbi by the name of Hillel, some 
years before had uttered aphorisms much like 
those which Jesus repeated ; and Philo, a most 
earnest young Jew, had spoken words of love 
and tenderness in similar speech. But there is 
no reason to believe that Jesus ever knew of 
Buddha, Hillel or Philo, save as the wisdom 
of these had passed into the current coin of 
thought. Strong men of similar type, placed 
in certain circumstances, will come to similar 
conclusions. On truth there is no copyright. 
^ With the Hebrew Prophets, Jesus very early 



Wf)t jHan of ^orrotog 25 

became familiar by hearing them read in the 
synagogue, and in fact it was in reciting from 
the Prophets that he learned to read. Isaiah 
was especially interesting to him. The Book 
of Daniel and the account of the Captivity of 
the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar impressed him 
greatly. He read with vivid interest the story 
of those earnest young Hebrews who trod in 
safety the fiery furnace, and of Daniel in the 
lion's den. The wild wailing and the torrent 
of pathetic eloquence of Jeremiah shook his 
boyish frame. The splendid dreams for the 
future, and the hot invective toward those who 
blocked the way to the realization of the Jewish 
Utopia, filled his heart. Jesus read and re-read 
the visions of Enoch, and the prophecies of 
a coming Messiah took a firm hold upon his 
impressionable nature. He read of how political 
revolutions were to occur, nation would rise 
against nation, family against family, and at 
last the Messiah was to unite the faithful and 
lead them out of their poverty and woes, out 
from the captivity of their enemies, bringing 
them into peace, prosperity and plenty. 
Jesus knew of Caesar, but beyond this, Roman 
history was to him a blank. He knew nothing 
of the peace Augustus had brought about, but 



26 ffifte JMan of g>orrotog 

supposed the nations of the earth had little 
occupation beyond fighting each other. He 
believed political power was for persecution; 
that governments were simply institutions for 
undoing the people ; that taxation was robbery, 
and that the rich were lecherous gourmands, 
devoid of pity and dead to shame, a dangerous, 
selfish class whose amusement was oppression. 
^ His own people were very lowly, all of his 
friends and companions were simple people, the 
fisher-folk he occasionally visited were poor. 
Poverty grew to him to be a sort of virtue, 
and wealth a crime. The fierce imprecations 
of Isaiah toward the false priests, Tneachers, 
lawyers and skulking hypocrites found easy 
lodgment in his heart, and to be rich and a 
hypocrite were to him synonymous. 
Even at the early age of twelve we find he 
was so self-reliant in his thinking, so fearless 
of opposition, so indifferent to precedent, 
that on a trip to Jerusalem with his parents, 
he forgot the booths and bazaars, the music 
and processions, and going into the Temple, 
engaged the learned, gray-haired Doctors in 
an earnest theological dispute, probably very 
much to their astonishment, if not amusement. 



W&t jHan of g>orrotog 27 

^BBgjgp^HE feeling of sublimity was early 
m\ developed in Jesus, a soaring sense 

A B of expansion and power. There are 
^^L| ^ very many who go through life 
and never know anything of this 
higher existence, when the heavens appear 
to open and truth comes to us without the 
medium of books and teachers. 
The love emotions do not have to be taught 
— they are not imparted — they spring out of 
our nature when the time is ripe, and we feel 
and know. So there is a sense of Divinity that 
comes to certain men — they feel their kinship 
with God — the Universal Life flows through 
them, and they realize they are instruments 
of Deity. This is what may be termed Natural 
religion — religion given by Nature — a religion 
sent from God. It is different from a dogmatic 
belief that is explained to us by a man who 
has thought it all out for us, and who had it 
explained to him by some one else ^ That 
quality of the mind which constructs creeds, 
argues fine points, and logically proves or 
syllogistically disposes, will spread its own 
withering aridity and dry up the fountain of 
the soul. Spirituality is seldom the possession 
of those who profess it, and culture ever eludes 



28 fcfje jUan of g>orrotog 

those who stealthily pursue her as a business. 
f& Suppose lovers were required to explain why 
they love and believe in each other — could 
they do it? 

Natural religion is a matter of the heart; a 
great welling emotion of love and gratitude — 
an overwhelming desire to give, benefit and 
bless all mankind. 

Man-made religion is a question of theology 
— a matter of the head, and has fear as its 
base, not faith. Theology is a clutch for power; 
but love is a desire to give, benefit and bless. 
•J This high sense of kinship with the Divine 
came to Jesus at adolescence. No doubt the 
children of the street informed him concerning 
the peculiarities of his birth, for a little town, 
of Oriental cast, especially, is only a big family, 
and everybody knows everybody else's history 
in minutest detail. Jesus had, while but a 
child, asked his mother about his birth, and 
she had satisfied him with the very natural 
explanation, "You are the son of God." 
This calm, serious youth with the big, open, 
wondering eyes, had not forgotten the remark 
— he had repeated it to other children on the 
street and repeated it to himself. Some of the 
children had laughed, others had gone home 



tZEjje jWan of g>orrotog 29 

and told their parents, and as Jesus grew older 
he held himself aloof from the rest somewhat 
moodily. He possessed great pride, and his 
fine intellect of itself set him apart from the 
swarms of Syrian youngsters who frolicked 
and fought in the gutters of Nazareth. 
At the synagogue he could read before any of 
his playmates could — he could read alone, but 
the other children had to read in concert or not 
at all. There were no priests in these village 
synagogues, simply the hazzan or caretaker and 
the readers & These readers were volunteers 
and were not paid anything for their services. 
By a sort of natural selection, however, the 
man of intellect and purpose gravitated to the 
reading desk, and the hazzan, who had charge 
of the sacred rolls, would unlock the little 
closet where these precious documents were 
kept, and hand to the reader the book desired 
for that particular service. 
Very early in life Jesus had acquired the habit 
of entering the synagogue on the Sabbath 
day, and reading aloud to the little company 
from the scrolls, expounding the Scriptures as 
he read, and commenting on them. 
It is somewhat curious that where children are 
taught to read by repeating the alphabet in 



30 gflje 0m of gorrojpg 

concert and reading aloud together, there are 
some who really never learn to read at all. 
People with abnormal memories often have 
very mediocre intellects. The story-tellers and 
reciters of the East, and those whom one 
meets at times in the by-ways of Europe, 
very often cannot read. Blind people have 
much better verbal memories than those who 
can see. To read and write carries with it a 
penalty — in degree you lose your memory. 
CJ So in Palestine there were very many who 
went to school and learned to read in concert, 
who, when their school-days were past, never 
again looked at a book, and soon they were 
absolutely illiterate, having forgotten all save 
the few things that they had memorized. 
Hence, the man who kept up his reading 
practice was the exception, there being no 
books in these poor villages, save those that 
the hazzan so jealously guarded. And we can 
easily imagine that if a person could not read 
well, the hazzan, feeling the importance and 
responsibility of his position, would refuse to 
entrust him with the scrolls. 
Jesus read remarkably well, because he had 
intellect, backed up by a noble and beautiful 
spirit. Expression is a matter of mind, and 



gEfte jtlan of ^orrotog 31 

the voice is the index of the soul. The person 
who understands what he reads and through 
whom emotion spontaneously plays, has a 
fine, expressive and vibrant voice. It is tone 
that tells, not words. Jesus was affected by 
the tones of the people and often spoke of 
this, once telling how the sheep knew the voice 
of the shepherd and came at his call, and how 
we were moved by the voices of those we 
loved and in whom we had confidence. 
Through this continued habit of reading aloud 
and expounding the Scriptures, there grew up 
in jthe little villages of Cana, Nazareth and 
Capernaum an increasing regard for the young 
man, and they addressed him Rabbi, Teacher 
or Master. 



14 

mm 



HILE Jesus was yet a child, 
Joseph died, and Mary moved 
with her little brood to Cana, 
about seven miles away. She 
had kinsmen in Cana, and she 
hoped to better her material condition by the 
change. Mary, evidently, was a woman of 
considerable strength of mind and decision. 
She was the head of the household, and long 
after Jesus had grown to manhood he was 



32 &fte Jfflan of ^orroipg 

called "The Son of Mary." Noble as he was, 
Jesus did not overshadow the mother who 
bore him. Cana was not nearly so pleasantly 
situated as Nazareth, and was only about half 
its size. It was at Cana that Jesus manifested 
first, in a public way, his religious power. 
This exaltation of spirit is essentially the mark 
of genius, and it might also be truthfully stated 
that when carried to an extreme it is the mark 
of insanity. All sublime poems, great pictures 
and marvelous musical compositions have been 
produced in this mood of uplift and ecstasy. 
Doubtless most people have spasms of insight, 
but to hold the mood and utilize it in oratory 
or any other form of art is the distinguishing 
symbol of greatness. Those who are uniformly 
wise are very commonplace. 
Religious fervor or ecstasy is a secondary sex 
manifestation; what is known as the artistic 
impulse is a variant of the same mood. Both 
are highly creative, and by their spell other 
minds are uplifted and vitalized. 
The man sees, knows, does, and very often he 
cannot give reasons, or explain how or why. 
This ecstasy of faith, hope, uplift and sublime 
strength is highly contagious, and sick people 
— those with nervous disorders — coming under 






ffifte Jto of ^orrotog 33 

its influence, are often made to stand erect, 
unsupported, leap with joy — and are well. 
<J Thoughtful physicians know and admit the 
wonderful effects of mind on mind, and of 
mind over matter. Most physical ills proceed 
from disordered imagination, and in passing, 
it may be well to state this fact: Imagination 
is the most intensely real and actual thing 
of which we know. The pains and sorrows of 
the imagination are the only real ones, and all 
the joys and delights of men are matters of 
spirit. All appetites, with their attractions and 
revulsions, are matters of the imagination. 
IJ The extent to which one highly imaginative 
individual of sterling purity of purpose and 
sublime power may benefit the weary, the 
weak, the depressed, the sorely stricken and 
the sick, we do not yet know. But the cures 
and benefits are not miraculous — they are all 
under some distinct, invariable Law, which as 
yet we imperfectly understand. It is part of 
the great Unknown. 

The belief that the Spirit of God was acting 
through him, came to Jesus as an actual, living 
fact. He read and re-read the story of Daniel, 
and he noted how this brave young man kept 
himself free from defilement by refusing to eat 



34 &fte jUan of gwrotog 

the meat and drink the wine that the pagan 
king had provided. And he resolved that he, 
too, would keep his body pure. He would not 
defile the Temple of the Most High by being 
led into sensuality and a search for bodily 
pleasure and gratification. 
There is a fine tang in doing without things, 
in living plainly, sleeping hard and scorning 
the soft and luxurious. The ascetic gets his 
gratification by having spirit rule the flesh, 
instead of flesh ruling spirit. 
In his moods of fervor Jesus felt that indeed 
he was the Son of God. All people who can 
catch a glimpse into this higher life of the 
spirit come to this conclusion, that all is One. 
There is only one Source of life and we are all 
partakers of it. Yet there are many degrees of 
life, and we hear of Jesus urging his followers 
to have "life in abundance." We are all Sons 
of God, and we come close to our Father as 
we seek to ascertain and do His bidding. 
When we truly pray, "Thy will be done," 
then we are bringing about a heaven now— 
His Kingdom upon Earth. 
This desire to do the will of God became the 
controlling impulse in the life of Jesus — he 
would live humbly, truthfully and earnestly, 



{Efte Jfflan of g>orrotog 35 

and being in communication with God, he 
would get his instruction directly from Him 
and not through the Jewish Law. He thought 
of God actually as his Father, and as a loving 
father would lead, instruct and direct his child, 
so would God lead and direct him. 
The Kingdom must be gained, not by making 
war on the established order, but by accepting 
it, paying taxes to Caesar, making the best of 
outward environment by submitting to it, and 
then conquering through this sublime ecstasy 
of the soul that raises one clear above the dross 
of earth and the rust and dust of time. "Lay 
not up for yourselves treasures on earth. " The 
continued habit of pure thinking and simple 
living brings a reward beyond the value of 
gold, lands and barns. And this wealth of the 
soul endures. <$ He had felt the richness of the 
loving heart that asks for nothing, wants 
nothing, envies no man, that never resents, 
which accepts all — sublimely rich and satisfied 
in doing the will of God! 
"The Kingdom of God is within you," he said. 
•I The Prophets had continually told of a 
Messiah who would come and lead the Jews 
out of the rule of the pagans and unite them 
in a great, happy and prosperous family. 



It came to Jesus with a thrill and a throb that 
he himself might be this Messiah! But the 
more he thought of an earthly kingdom — 
a place where the Jews might be gathered 
together — the more impossible it seemed to 
bring such a matter about. The first attempt 
would lead straight to an armed resistance on 
the part of the established order — the priests, 
scribes, publicans and all other officers of the 
government. He therefore easily came to the 
sensible conclusion that the Kingdom of God 
was a matter of the spirit. Again and again he 
says, "Blessed are the pure in heart. " 
Jesus reverenced and had faith in his inmost 
convictions, because he believed these came 
directly from God. He believed that if he 
were absolutely honest, simple, direct, and 
unselfish in his thoughts and acts, speaking 
as his Father directed, then indeed would he 
reflect the will of God and bring about the 
Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. 
Thus would he be the long-looked-for Messiah. 
<J In general intent the idea of Jesus was 
expressed by Confucius, five hundred years 
before, when he said: "Be free from desire, 
lust, greed and wrath; be tranquil, unaffected 
by pain or pleasure, praise or censure, honor or 



Wbt 0im of ^orrotpg 37 

dishonor; be moderate; treat friend and foe 
alike; utter only such speech as shall cause no 
sorrow; be true, agreeable, beneficent and you 
shall govern the world." 
Contemporaneous with Confucius there lived 
Gautama, who expressed practically the same 
truths in the "Eight-fold Path of Peace." The 
plea was for cleanliness, kindness, sobriety, 
purity and cheerfulness, and the belief was 
that these things would lead to a happier 
reincarnation, and at last to blessed Nirvana. 

HEN Jesus came to believe that 
the firm character of Daniel 
came from his purity of purpose 
and his absolute reliance on 
God; that freedom to every 
man arrives when he deserves it; and that 
the Kingdom of God was not in the far-off 
future, but here and now, if we would but 
cease striving and become as little children, 
and enter in, a great load was lifted from his 
heart. 

It was n't a matter of strife and struggle — no, 
it was just letting go, living lightly, easily, 
naturally in faith and love, confidence and 
hope. 




38 (EJje Jttatt of &orrotoa 

A great light had come to him — he would 
overcome through affection and not through 
resistance jfc "Resist not- evil" — he would 
conquer by yielding — violence begets violence, 
force begets force, and love begets love. In his 
soul he felt a great and abiding peace, and this 
peace was tokened in his gentleness, his sweetly 
modulated voice, and the light that illumined 
his soul shone out eloquently through his calm 
and lustrous eyes. 

He wanted nothing and to want nothing is to 
possess all. If we want nothing and have 
nothing that others can take away from us, 
we are unafraid. Perfect love casteth out fear. 
<I At this time Jesus had no disciples, and had 
founded no sect nor school. He moved in and 
out among the people freely — he talked little, 
but his silence was eloquent. The loungers, 
awed, moved out of his way as he passed, but 
the children, recognizing in him one in whom 
there was neither fear nor reason for fear, 
clung to his hands and robe and came and 
seated themselves on his knees while he sat. 
•J This sweetness, gentleness and strength, 
especially appealed to women. Women are 
instinctively on their guard against the selfish, 
gluttonous man. But the self-contained man 



Wf&t jfflan of g>orrotog 39 

who makes no demands upon them; who in 
degree is indifferent to them; who can do 
without them; who is without passion, having 
mastered passion, and therefore is not passion's 
slave, such a one always attracts women before 
he attracts men. All good women seek the 
man they can trust — one in whom they can 
believe. 

And so through the winning gentleness of 
Jesus, his poise, his unselfishness, his high 
intellect, there grew up about him a little 
company who followed him, finding peace in 
his presence. If he read and spoke in the 
synagogue in the morning they would all be 
present; and if it were known that he was to 
speak in some neighboring village later in the 
day, a goodly group of women and children, 
and men as well, would follow him. 
Once we hear of his riding a mule that was 
supplied by some well-to-do admirer, and the 
children in playful mood ran ahead and strewed 
palms in the way, and doubtless the young 
man smiled upon them kindly. And surely 
the smile from such a one was reward enough. 
^ Jesus had absolutely no sympathy with a 
paid, professional priesthood. He thought the 
intermediary quite needless and unnecessary 



40 3flf)e jfflan of g>orrotog 

— and worse, it was the sure undoing of the 
intermediary, for such a one at once began to 
take honors to himself, and to inwardly say, 
" I am holier than thou. " 
At Jerusalem he had seen the Pharisees, a 
sect of the Jews, many of them wealthy and 
powerful people, pray on public street corners. 
This had offended his sense of fitness, and so 
also had the badges, "phylacteries" and the 
peculiar dress they wore to show their rank. 
And so he sought to explain to the people 
that God was spirit, and not a Governor or 
Ruler, and we must worship Him in spirit and 
in truth. That is, the outward worship was 
not worship at all — this falsehood and this 
pretended piety was offensive to God. "When 
thou prayest," he said to them, "be not like 
the hypocrites who love to pray standing in 
the synagogues and on corners of the streets, 
that they may be seen of men. But thou, when 
thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when 
thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father, 
who seeth in secret. " 

He did not regard himself alone as the Son of 
God, but he spoke repeatedly of "thy Father," 
or "your Father," thus showing his belief in 
a Universal Fatherhood. In fact, the exclusive 



tEfte jflan of ^orrotog 41 

Son-of-God idea was not evolved until the 
faith had been carried to Rome, where great 
men gone were deified, and the descendants of 
gods and virgins ruled as Emperors. 
Physically Jesus was of medium height, slight 
in form, with light complexion, blue eyes 
and tawny hair. His power lay in the fact that 
his body and mind were under almost perfect 
control. Usually he talked but little. He was 
a sympathetic listener — he seemed to give 
himself to his hearers. This habit of self-control 
— asking for nothing, giving all — is essentially 
the symbol of great mental ability. The essence 
of power lies in reserve. The man who asks for 
nothing and wants nothing, has everything. 
We need Messiahs now just as much as they 
did two thousand years ago — and more. Let 
a man arise who believes in his own divinity; 
who is filled with the spirit of love; who has 
the yearning heart and unselfish soul, and men 
will everywhere flock to his standard. Jesus 
saw the truth without blinking; he wanted 
nothing, and he had a complete indifference 
toward social preferment; priestly precedents 
were to him as naught. He expressed what he 
believed, not simply what it was expedient to 
state j* J* 



42 {Stye jUan of g>orrotog 

Men with a social position to maintain, with 
political superiors to appease, and a mob of 
retainers to satisfy are untruthful of necessity. 
Simplicity and directness of speech and manner 
are quite out of their province. ^ At first thought 
it seems strange that an obscure man by being 
frank, direct, simple, honest and unpretentious 
could set himself apart from mankind, but 
one who has this ability is practically without 
rivals — he has no competitors. 

3T must not be thought that Jesus 
spent all of his time preaching and 
in going from place to place. His 
whole life was quiet and free from 
undue excitement, excepting those 
few weeks at the last. He was never more than 
seventy-five miles from home, and was known, 
comparatively, to but a few. Most of the time 
he worked at his trade, often finding diversion 
in dressing the vines, or helping gather the 
clusters of grapes in the vineyards that dotted 
the hillsides, thus assisting his neighbors in 
their tasks. At other times he would tend the 
flocks and at night-time assist in housing the 
sheep in the stone enclosures so they would be 
safe against prowling wolves. 



Cfte jfflan of gwrotog 43 

Preaching, therefore, was quite incidental to 
him, although he talked with any or all who 
showed a desire to know the truth. His life 
was without worldly ambition. His desire was 
to serve, and no useful task was alien to him. 
This life of humility, simplicity and useful 
effort, of truth and gentleness, he regarded as 
the Godlike life. " Whosoever will save his life 
shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life 
for my sake shall find it," he said. The man 
was not wholly indifferent to happiness, but he 
knew a better way to secure it than to deprive 
others of it or to clutch, strive and struggle 
for it. Man's true wants are few and Nature is 
bountiful; if we love God and seek to do the 
will of God, we should show it in our attitude 
toward our neighbors, and all good things will 
be added unto us. 

This is a very beautiM religion and if followed 
out by a majority, would surely redeem the 
world; and after all our philosophizing, we 
turn at last for rest to this gentle religion of 
Jesus, so simple, yet so noble and true — the 
religion of love and service. Here, only, do we 
find rest for our souls. 




44 Cfre JWan of &orrotog 

O passed the years in peace and 
plenty. Jesus was twenty-eight 
years of age, in the very prime 
of his early manhood, when the 
quiet of his life was broken in 
upon by the actions of a young man named 
John, whose fame had gone throughout all 
Palestine. 

John was the son of Zacharias, a Jewish priest, 
and was about the same age as Jesus. Their 
mothers were cousins, and were acquainted 
before their births, so it is quite likely that 
the young men, too, knew each other as they 
grew up. John was born at Hebron, a little 
town about fifty miles from Nazareth, on the 
border of the desert. His ideas as to asceticism 
went clear beyond those of Jesus — he would 
wander forth into the desert and live alone for 
days, drinking out of the clefts of the rocks 
and keeping himself from actual starvation by 
eating locusts and wild honey. He dressed in 
skins like a savage, discarding every comfort, 
and when he came out of his hiding place and 
approached a town, he would call aloud to the 
people to repent and "flee from the wrath to 
come." He seemed to be a reincarnation of 
the Prophet Elijah, dressing like him, acting 



Wf)t jttan of &orrotog 45 

like him, and talking like him. His prophecies 
were especially severe on the rich and the 
politicians, and he seemed to think that the 
end of the world was about to come, and that, 
indeed, the Children of Israel were soon to 
be redeemed from the yoke of oppression and to 
be brought together to live in peace and unity, 
free from all bondage. 

He himself was not to bring about this great 
revolution — he was only preparing the way for 
another who was to come soon, the latchet of 
whose shoes he was not worthy to unloose. 
*l Such evangelists with an excess of zeal are 
not uncommon; even in our day we have seen 
a man claiming to be the Third incarnation of 
Elijah. This modern prophet is not exactly 
an ascetic, but like Elijah the First, he has 
foretold much evil, and like John, warned 
men to flee from some mysterious wrath. 
John was essentially of the Yogi type, and his 
power and earnestness sent a thrill of terror 
through the people wherever he went. The 
Jewish mind was quite prepared for such men 
as John, having seen others of his kind, and 
being already filled with the Messianic thought. 
*§ Jesus had a peace and poise that John did 
not possess. However, Jesus was powerfully 



46 gfte jtlan of ^orrotoj 

impressed by him. John called upon the people 
to repent and to band themselves together, 
and the symbol of this repentance was baptism 
by immersion — a public renunciation and a 
performance that all could see. 
John had journeyed to within a few miles from 
where Jesus was then staying, and Jesus hearing 
of the excitement and sympathizing with it to a 
degree, went with several of his comrades to 
the river Jordan where John was baptizing, 
^f John did not have a scintilla of that beautiful 
and gentle religion of Jesus — he was bold, 
denunciatory, iconoclastic, threatening jt But 
the people he denounced were the very same 
people whom Jesus inveighed against—the 
Scribes, Pharisees and the professional priests 
and politicians. So it will be seen there was a 
natural bond of sympathy between John and 
Jesus, and the difference in their methods and 
manners was largely a matter of temperament. 
1$ John, like all evangelists, called upon the 
hearers to "come forward," and in common 
with many others present, Jesus accepted the 
invitation, went forward, and was baptized. 
Jesus did not think of rivaling John, nor did 
he assert his superiority — he simply showed 
that he was in sympathy with the zealot. 



£fje jttan of feornrtog 47 

Yet he did not mix with the disciples of John 
on an absolute equality; he and his comrades 
kept aloof and soon went their own way. But 
John had profoundly impressed Jesus, and we 
hear of Jesus imitating him, in soon starting 
on his own account to baptize his converts. 
Jesus saw that the plan of baptizing was a 
good one — it was doing something positive, 
and could not help giving the candidate a 
thrill he would long remember. Such a form of 
initiation has its psychic use with people of 
moderate intellects — a simple spiritual change 
of thought and life is not enough — they want 
to do something positive and pronounced. 
And we can easily see how immersion would 
impress the convert in a way that the modern, 
attenuated manner of baptism by sprinkling 
would not. 

The nature of Jesus was essentially feminine 
— he was sympathetic, impressionable and 
easily moved towards imitation. Indeed, this 
is the artistic type of character, and most of 
us know the feeling of reading a great book 
and wanting to write one just like it. When 
preparing a speech, Webster used to read the 
orations of Cicero to key his mind to the 
proper pitch, and such a self-reliant man as 



48 fcfje jtlau of g>orrotog 

Robert Browning had a habit of beginning the 
day by reading Shakespeare, that he might 
get somewhat into the swing and stride of the 
master. 

Jesus now began to preach and baptize after 
the manner of John. One was on the eastern 
bank of the Jordan, the other on the western. 
John had gotten along undisturbed while he 
remained in Judea, as Pilate, the easy-going 
Roman Procurator, was not inclined to dictate 
to his people; instead he allowed them the 
fullest liberty of expression, as he believed 
that all excesses tended to cure themselves. 
But John had now invaded the province ruled 
by Antipas Herod, a degenerate son of Herod 
the Great. Antipas was a whimsical and weak 
man, with an ambitious, robustious, violent 
and turbulent helpmeet. This woman also had 
a royal pedigree, and as far as we know she 
never for a moment forgot it. She had a strong 
bias for interference — and also a grown-up 
daughter, Salome by name, born of a former 
marriage. Salome was the child of her mother. 
Many reports had come to Antipas, and his 
interesting family, of John the Baptist, whose 
fame was constantly growing J> Men were 
leaving their work, getting ready for the great 



W$t Jto of ^orrotpg 49 

change that was soon to end the world, with the 
coming of the Messiah. This of course, meant an 
end to Antipas. Excitement was in the air ! Rumor 
was rife and great uneasiness was apparent. 
<J Personally the Governor was not disturbed as 
to his own fate, but this religious excitement 
was taking on a political complexion. We have 
seen religious movements in America that gave 
spasms of fear, perhaps not without reason, 
to statesmen, so-called, in Washington. Very 
seldom, indeed, do religious bodies keep clear 
of politics — they vote solidly. John inveighed 
against the existing government — against all 
governments — and he even went so far as to 
seriously criticise the domestic relations of his 
Governor or tetrach. 

Herodias had been the wife of Philip, brother 
of the tetrach. John condemned this second 
marriage as indecent, wicked and contrary to 
the laws of God, thereby bringing upon his 
head the vindictive hatred of a revengeful 
woman who possessed the power to punish — a 
proceeding more dangerous than the mere 
infraction of statutory law. John was as bitter, 
sarcastic and severe towards Antipas and his 
consort as Hamlet was towards his mother 
and her husband, King Claudius. 



50 (Tfje Jttan of g>orrotog 

This was really too much — John was arrested, 
manacled and marched away to prison, and 
his followers dispersed, 

Jesus took warning and retired into the desert. 
*§ Herodias and Salome had their way: John 
the Baptises biting tongue must be silenced. 
There was only one way to do this, for even 
in prison he talked and preached, exhorted, 
calling upon men to repent, and sent messages 
of encouragement to Jesus and others. There 
is a legend that Salome made love to John, 
but he repulsed her Jt John was beheaded. 
And so at last was his tongue silenced — his 
lips dumb. 

Shortly after this Jesus returned to Galilee, a 
subdued and sorrowful man. 

EPRESSION is invariably the 

first ingredient in the recipe for 

revolution. 

Jesus did not long remain silent. 

His new experiment had tended 
to broaden his mind, deepen his nature and 
intensify his thought. The execution of John 
was a terrible thing — done by government — 
his hatred for officialism was increased! In 
all of this tragedy Jesus seemed to foresee the 




Wbt jttan of gorrotoj 51 

sombre symbol of his own undoing. But he 
was not dismayed. He would live his life — he 
would speak the truth as he saw it — he would 
express his inmost self! 

When he began once more to preach, it was 
with a confidence and power of expression that 
was before unknown to him. He talked now 
to "the multitude, " which probably means 
several hundred people at a time, and in his 
oratory there was plainly apparent a dash of 
lofty scorn. 

Like all men who are led largely by their 
feelings, his words were strangely inconsistent. 
He spoke in parable. He argued submission 
to the established order, yet rebuked those in 
authority. He explained that his kingdom was 
not of this world, but prophesied peace, now 
and here, to the souls of such as would follow 
him. He talked of glad tidings, and yet said 
that the righteous would be persecuted. 
"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall 
be comforted, " but whether comforted here 
or hereafter, he is not always sure. 
The Old Testament contains no hint of future 
rewards and punishments — the grave ends 
all. If man is immortal the Hebrew Prophets 
did not know it ^ Jesus believed in a life 



S2 Cfje jHan of gmrtotog 

after death, and urges his followers to lay up 
treasures for themselves in heaven — that is, in 
another world, where moth and rust do not 
corrupt, nor where thieves break through and 
steal ^ J* 

Jesus now boldly proclaimed himself the Son 
of God, and said, " I and my Father are One. " 
<I Several of the followers of John had now 
come to him, and these by their presence and 
faith, if not in actual words, had inspired him 
to take up the work of John the Baptist. John 
had foretold the quick coming of the Messiah, 
and Jesus was now confident that he himself 
was the "Son of Man," prophesied by Daniel, 
who was to come and found a Kingdom and 
who would judge the world and lead it out of 
bondage. And by "bondage," Jesus meant 
the bondage to custom, habit and sin — not 
bondage to Rome. Yet for Rome he had not 
a shadow of respect. 

Jesus had now practically ceased to be a Jew 
— he had gone far beyond that. He called all 
men to repentance, not the Jews alone, and 
deliberately placed his own commands above 
those of the Hebrew Law. He had a way of 
saying, "They have said unto you in olden 
time, but I say unto you," thus 



Wbt Jflan of gmrrotog 53 

revealing his implicit faith in himself and his 
own divine mission. 

He now lived at Capernaum, an important 
village located on the shores of Lake Tiberias. 
Here he had close personal friends and few 
carping critics. He had gotten quite out of 
conceit with the gossiping little hamlet of 
Nazareth — he had tried to arouse that place, 
but there he could do no "mighty work on 
account of the unbelief of the people. " 
Grave old men had shaken their heads and 
stroked their beards as they asked, "Is not 
this Jesus, the Son of Mary? Why, we knew 
him when he was a youngster, playing in these 
alleys and going with the shepherds to bring 
in the lambs to the fold !" These old men 
belonged to the great order of "We knew 
him when!" 

And Jesus repeated an old saying, "A prophet 
is not without honor, save in his own country. " 
At Capernaum he did not find this prejudice 
that is the result of familiarity. He made his 
home there with a prosperous and excellent 
man called Zebedee, and all deference and 
honor were paid him. Zebedee had two sons, 
James and John, who especially believed in 
Jesus and his divine mission and longed to 



54 Clje Man ot &orrotog 

help him bring about this "New Jerusalem" 
of which they had heard. The mother of these 
young men also had much faith in Jesus and 
his mission, as we are told she once secretly 
requested Jesus to reserve first places in heaven 
for her two sons — one on his right and one on 
his left hand — a beautiful and motherly request. 
This John, the son of Zebedee, was only a 
youth, but he was impressionable and full of 
the spirit — gentle and clairvoyant by nature. 
Jesus became much attached to him, although 
neither then knew what an important part this 
John, "the beloved disciple," would play in 
placing the Gospel before the people of the 

world J* e^ 

Then there were two other brothers, sons of 
one Jonas, by name Simon Peter and Andrew. 
Peter was married and in his family lived his 
wife's mother, who once was taken very sick, 
and they sent for Jesus that she might be 
cured of her illness. 

These fishermen continued their regular work 
while Jesus was with them, but we hear of 
Jesus one day telling them that they would 
better quit and go with him on an evangelizing 
tour, and "I will make you fishers of men.^ 
•J For Peter, especially, Jesus had the greatest 



Wbt jttan of &orrotog 55 

admiration. Peter was ten years or more older 
than Jesus and of a very strong, sturdy type* 
His name meant "the rock," and Jesus was 
fond of playing upon the fitness of it. Peter 
did not have a great amount of intellect nor 
insight; he was impulsive — usually doing his 
thinking after he had spoken. He was of the 
motive temperament and a natural leader of 
the hardy, rough men of his class. Yet even 
though he had small delicacy of spirit, he had 
faith, which often answers the purpose of this 
world better. Jesus lived at the home of Peter 
part of the time, and used to borrow his boat 
and preach from it to the people who gathered 
along the shore. 

Capernaum, Bethsaida and Magdala were only 
a little way apart, and at all of these places 
Jesus had many friends. At Magdala was a 
woman named Mary who was known as the 
Magdalene, for the same reason that Jesus was 
called the Nazarene. This woman was to play 
an important part in his history. Evidently 
the Magdalene was a woman of much spirit, 
but of a neurotic temperament jt She had 
suffered long from some nervous disorder, 
which the simple villagers said came from her 
"being possessed with devils" — her reputation 



56 gEfte jflan of gmrrotog 

being of a kind that doubtless made it easy for 
her neighbors to believe in this devil theory. 
Jesus was not afraid of having his reputation 
smirched — he was a friend to the Magdalene. 
<J By his wonderful presence Jesus sent the 
"devils" out of her nature, and she became 
calm, poised and sane as she listened to the 
words that fell from his gentle lips. 
This territory where Jesus preached, we must 
remember, was very limited in extent — the 
entire distance he traversed being only about 
fifteen or twenty miles and back. Jesus simply 
traversed through these simple little villages, 
where the people supplied their few wants by 
fishing, growing grapes and tending the flocks. 
The world of economics, education, science, 
politics and industry was absolutely unknown 
to them. There were no post-offices, banks, 
stores, or enterprises for public transportation; 
they knew nothing of geography, astronomy, 
botany, and little of history; the problems of 
labor and capital were unguessed. They planted 
little gardens, plucked the ripe fruits, ate the 
melons, trod out the grapes for wine, drew 
their nets, looked after the flocks, and wore 
their simple home-made garments. They did 
not travel. 



W&t Jttan of &orrotog 57 

They knew nothing of the size of the world, 
its evolution, nor of the people who inhabited 
it beyond a two-days' journey from their 
homes. They were children who ate when they 
were hungry, slept when they were sleepy and 
worked a little when they felt like it. They 
were contented and happy. 
The whole of Galilee is now a desert waste. 
For centuries men did not plant trees nor 
care for them. No effort was made to rotate 
the crops nor to fertilize the soil. They burned 
the wood and sought not to replace it, so 
Nature naturally grew discouraged and ceased 
to send her rain; the dews no longer formed, 
and where once were smiling gardens, trees, 
vines and flowers there, is now, for the most 
part, only a parched, barren soil and a desolate 
outlook of broken rocks. 
In the time of Jesus one could live for quite 
a while along the shores of Lake Tiberias, 
practically without labor, and this is what 
Jesus and his disciples did. "Take no thought 
for the morrow," Jesus said. "Behold the 
fowls of the air, are they not fed? And for 
clothing, look at the lilies of the field, they 
toil not, neither do they spin, yet Solomon in all 
his glory was not arrayed like one of these I" 



58 Z\)t jflan of gwotog 

•I This, we would now say, is poor economics, but 
the disciples did not argue the point. Jesus 
was enough of a pantheist to believe men are 
brothers to the lilies and to the birds, and that 
the Power that cared for these would care for 
us if we only had faith : 

No man can serve two masters : for either he will hate 
the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the 
one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and 
mammon* 

Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your 
life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet 
for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life 
more than meat, and the body than raiment? 
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither 
do they reap, nor gather into barns ; yet your heavenly 
Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto 
his stature? 

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the 
lilies of the field, how they grow : they toil not, neither 
do they spin : and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon 
in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these J» 
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which 
to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall He 
not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? 
What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be 
clothed? (for after all these things do the Gentiles 



gEfre JWan of g>orrotoa 59 

seek :) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have 
need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom 
of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall 
be added unto you. 

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the 
morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. 
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 

Jesus would seat himself on the hillside and 
thus talk to those gathered near. They were 
all quite satisfied — was not this enough? Why 
should they not thus be happy always? The 
kingdom of heaven was at hand. Everything 
they needed was theirs, and like the Prophet 
of Concord, they owned the landscape. They 
helped themselves to corn on the Sabbath day 
as they passed through the fields — all days 
were good! The only thing that we should 
hunger and thirst after is righteousness, and 
if we really do hunger for it we shall be filled. 
The way to inherit the earth was not to sweat, 
work and toil for it, but simply be meek. If 
we desire mercy, we must be merciful; and 
if we are pure in heart we shall have the great 
happiness to see God. Then, after all, if we 
are persecuted, why, so much the better, for 
as reward for enduring the persecution, we shall 
be partakers in the kingdom of heaven. 



60 gEfte jflan of gmrtotog 

In playful mood he referred to the disciples as 
the sheep of his pasture. It was a very happy 
period — this out-of-door life, with the grand 
comradeship of faithful friends — mountain, 
plain, valley, trees, birds, fowls and flowers as 
symbols for spiritual things. Men alone could 
not enjoy this life, but there were women, and 
this mingling of the male and female minds in 
joyous abandon produced a fine intoxication; 
and the lofty and delicate asceticism of Jesus 
lifted the whole atmosphere out of the sensual 
into the sensuous. 

If Jesus was not able to actually procure and 
produce grand mansions, jewels and all soft 
luxuries of the rich, he could at least inspire 
his disciples with a disdain and an indifference 
for such things. It seems a lapse in logic to 
offer as a reward in heaven the very things his 
disciples affected to despise on earth, but such 
inconsistencies always go with simple minds, 
that make a virtue of necessity J. Ill-gotten 
wealth is surely not to be desired, but rags are 
no recommendation, and poverty is of itself 
no passport to paradise, even though a rich 
man's wealth might keep him out. Lazarus, 
so far as we know, had nothing to recommend 
him beyond the fact that he was a beggar; 



@%e JUan oi &orrotog 61 

and so far as we know, there was nothing 
against Dives but the fact that he was rich. 
•I Then we hear of some peculiar political 
economy in reference to a certain steward who 
canceled the obligations of the debtors of his 
employer, without the employer's consent. 
Also there are prayers asking that we may be 
forgiven our debts without payment. Such a 
philosophy could be attractive only to very 
poor and very childish people. Civilization 
demands that men shall face their obligations, 
and surely we do not want to be forgiven our 
debts — we pray rather that we may have the 
ability to pay them, and this prayer, moreover, 
is expressed by work and action much more 
than in words. 

The admonition, too, as to bestowing alms 
and selling all one has and giving the money 
to the poor, we recognize now as unscientific 
sociology. To sell goods simply to get the 
money to give away, is not the method of an 
economist — goods may be worth more than 
money. To follow the advice would pauperize 
the rich and not benefit the poor. Every good 
thing in life must be earned. And if the wealth 
of the world were turned over to the poor, 
they themselves would have to give it away, 



62 fcfre jWan of g^orrotog 

or else be barred out of paradise. And then if 
wealth is a bad thing on earth, why is it a 
good thing in heaven? Why should man toil 
and sweat, dig and delve, deny himself bodily 
comfort and pleasure that he may inherit a 
"mansion in the skies," and enjoy for an 
endless eternity the luxurious idleness that is 
condemned on earth as selfish and wrong? 
Cfl These things are noted here not by way of 
criticism concerning a philosophy that glorifies 
poverty and execrates wealth, but simply to 
call attention to the fact that such preaching 
would appeal only to very poor and lowly 
people, those of the child-mind. Jesus was 
certainly not as ignorant as the average man 
in his audience, but an audience of ignorant 
people never will get an address that ranks 
uniformly high & In talking at jails and to 
people in prison, I have always found myself 
congratulating the prisoners on their condition 
and making pleasant references to the rogues 
who have not been caught. Oratory is always 
a collaboration between the speaker and the 
hearer, and in large degree the pew keys the 
discourse of the pulpit. Jesus was certainly 
possessed of a very pure and lofty philosophy — 
the philosophy of love and service — but when 



jgjje jtlan of &orntog 63 

he advocates quitting work, ceasing thrift, and 
the indulgence in sharp practice and violence 
towards the rich; when he places a premium 
upon poverty, and favors mendicancy as a 
legitimate business, we see in it all simply a 
reflection of the extreme crudity of the times. 

^■Jb/'T the annual Feast of the Passover 
\^\ at Jerusalem there was a great 
\teud| gathering of the Jews from all over 

r^t W P a ^ estine * J esus had made several 
pilgrimages — how many we do not 
know, but now in his thirty-first year, we find 
him with his little band of Galilean supporters, 
setting out for the Holy City. They could 
arrive there in three days, walking leisurely. 
II Just what caused Jesus to go at this time 
we do not know, since he surely had very little 
sympathy with the cold Jewish formulas that 
served as an excuse for bringing the throng 
together. Possibly he wanted to convince the 
Galileans that he was still a Jew in spirit; or 
perhaps he thought it was time to strike a 
blow right at the heart of the cold sectarian 
practices that only made clean the outside of 
the platter, but which left the inmost hearts 
of many full of extortion and excess. 



64 &f)e Man of g>orro tog 

It is quite likely that the followers wanted 
excitement; they had grown tired of the ideal 
life that only dreams and rhapsodizes — they 
were Orientals, and the sweaty smell of the 
mob, the bells, music, the gongs and songs 
and cries of the market-place were attractive 
to them. 

In Jerusalem they could hire a room for a 
small sum and all huddle into it at night, and 
in the morning they would get food at the 
tents which supplied the wayfarer, and then all 
the day, like true rustics that they were, 
they could wander, open-mouthed, and enjoy 
the sights of this Celestial Midway. 
<J Camp-meetings are attractive places and 
have their social and psychic use. 
The Temple itself interested Jesus more than 
all else. It was a great stretching white stone 
building, with porches and large pillars that 
ran clear around it. It was really the capitol, 
for the easy-going Romans allowed the Jews 
to carry on their own ecclesiastic government, 
up to certain limits, undisturbed. This Temple 
was court-room, assembly and business place 
combined. In the porches animals and fowls 
were sold for sacrifice, and for food as well. 
The money-changers were in evidence, and 



CEfre jtlan of gmrrotog 65 

everywhere the whole place bore the bustle 
and boom of business. 

The Temple had been built by Herod the 
Great at much expense so as to please and 
placate the Jews over whom he ruled. The 
fact that it was built by the Romans after 
their own particular style of architecture was 
doubtless one cause of the prejudice that Jesus 
felt towards it. 

Besides the commercial air of the Temple, 
it was a place of contention, argument and 
dispute. The learned men here met and made 
plain the difference 'twixt tweedle-dee and 
tweedle-dum. Education at Jerusalem was 
nothing but the empty science of scholastics. 
The study of the Law was pushed to the point 
of absurdity, and the topic of how chickens 
should be killed so as to make the most 
acceptable sacrifice to God, was wrangled out 
with citations, precedents, and references at 
great length. Fanaticism, hate, bitterness and 
pedantry grew like jimson weeds out of a soil 
where swine have been fattened. And like all 
purely theological learning, the one who could 
follow abstrusities and absurdities farthest, 
took to their vain and empty hearts much 
credit for their fatuous and futile performances. 



66 &fte jfflan of &orrotog 

The very things that drove love, gentleness, 
truth and pity from their hearts were the 
things upon which they most plumed and 
prided themselves. In these learned theological 
wrangles the humanities had small place. 
Jesus plainly says that to make a profession 
of a beautiful sentiment is to degrade it into 
the mire. Love as a business gives us moral 
degradation; and the worship of our Creator 
as a profession produces pride, pretense and 
pompous hypocrisy. Well has it been said, by 
Edward Everett Hale, that you will find God 
everywhere and anywhere but in a theological 
seminary. 

The controlling desire of Jesus was to do the 
will of his Heavenly Father, to worship Him 
in spirit and in truth, and here was only a 
perversion of all that he held most dear — 
simplicity, gentleness, unselfishness, kindness, 
love and truth ; these were unknown. 
And no doubt he was further stung by the 
indifferent treatment that he himself had 
received. He was a man, and a man of pride ; 
he had grown used to a certain amount of 
deference — when he spoke in Galilee others 
had listened, but here he was swallowed up 
in a bellowing crowd. 



Wf)t jflatt of gmrrotog 67 

His companions were laughed at, and all of 
them, dust-stained, rude and rustic, supplied 
diversion for the onlookers. The inhabitants 
of Galilee were regarded as a mixed race by 
the Jews of Jerusalem — they spoke a peculiar 
dialect that often caused much amusement, 
and we hear of how once the brogue of Peter 
made his birthplace plainly evident, to his 
great discomfort, danger and annoyance. 
Only Jews were allowed to go into the Temple : 
warning placards forbade, and the doorkeepers 
were free with their challenges. It is quite 
likely that these disdainful priests had openly 
affronted the Galileans. 

Jesus had seen all this scramble and disorder 
that called itself religion before, but now he 
had grown in purpose and spirit. In a moment 
of revulsion, he took a scourge of cords, and 
making a dash at the keepers of the booths 
and the money-changers, who were calling 
and crying their business, he forced them from 
their places in the porch, calling to them in 
wrath, "Ye have made this place a den of 
thieves!" 

This was certainly contrary to the general 
attitude of Jesus, who had been preaching the 
religion of humility and non-resistance, but 



68 &fte Mm of &orrotog 

he was a man of stubborn courage and the 
old Adam for the moment got the better of 
him, and he drove them out in terror. It is 
probable that in an hour all were back, crying 
their wares, quite forgetful of the disturbance 
made by the fanatical and mysterious stranger. 
<J Whether it was on this trip Jesus met Mark 
and Luke who lived at Jerusalem, and Judas, 
who came from the south of Jerusalem, and 
welcomed them into the little company, we 
do not know — the chronology is much mixed, 
and just when a particular event occurred we 
are not able to say. Uncorroborated history is 
always received with doubt, for the writer may 
have been mistaken or prejudiced. The moral 
teachings and self-evident truths of the four 
Gospels are all that can be relied upon, for in 
the period immediately following the time of 
Jesus there were hundreds of Gospels and 
creeds, each purporting to be the only true 
and authentic version. At the Nicene Council, 
in the year Three Hundred and Twenty-five, 
the assembled bishops, after much argument, 
decided by ballot just which books were the 
inspired words of God, and settled on those 
Gospels which were written in Greek, the 
language of the fashionable circles of Jerusa- 



W&t Jttan of g>orrotog 69 

lem, while the immediate followers of Jesus 
were uneducated Hebrews. 

€VIDENTLY at this time Jesus had 
not made the acquaintance of that 
interesting little family at Bethany, 
three miles beyond the walls, where 
he afterwards made his home. 
All he had seen in Jerusalem saddened and 
depressed him — the coldness of the priests, the 
indifference of the people, the clutch for place 
and power on one side, and dense stupidity on 
the other, filled his heart with sadness. The 
Jews had even refused to give him a hearing 
at Jerusalem, so busy were they with their 
own sordid plots and plans. 
He declared to his disciples that such a state 
could not endure — God would soon destroy it 
all, and not one stone would be left upon 
another of this gorgeous Temple that was 
quite as much pagan as Judean. 
And the little company started back home, to 
Galilee, disappointed, silent and subdued, for 
fairs are always disappointing, since they tire 
us out. 



70 £fje 0m of ^orrotog 

j ^BW Wgp/HE division of Palestine known as 

^| Samaria lay between Judea and 

It B Galilee ^ The Samaritans were 

^mL- J regarded as heathen by most of 

the orthodox Jews, and they were 

accordingly shunned and despised by their 

narrow-minded Hebrew neighbors. 

When Jesus and his followers reached Samaria, 

and had passed beyond the dust and heat and 

the caravans of the Judean desert, good cheer 

gradually returned to them. Once more were 

they among friends. In a majority of these 

scattered villages Jesus had acquaintances. To 

these he returned, and having memory of the 

exclusive and insulting placards in the Temple 

at Jerusalem that forbade any but Jews to 

enter, he now proclaimed that he had not come 

to save the Jews alone, but the whole world. 

"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners 

to repentance. " 

He broke down all lines of caste utterly, and 
purposely and openly visited with the outcasts 
of society. This love for the common people 
had become the distinguishing feature of his 
preaching; he welcomed the sick, the weak, 
the depraved, those "possessed of devils." In 
that day there was no public plan of caring for 



Wbt jHan of gmrrotog 71 

mental defectives or the insane — they roamed 
abroad at will, and often turned away from 
houses, they lived in the cemeteries — that is, 
in the neglected caves in the hillsides which 
had served for graves. 

Jesus had no fear of these poor creatures, nor 
did he try to shield himself from the presence 
of lepers or those with any other contagious 
disease. By a smile, a look, a word, a blessing 
with his hands upon the head of the sufferer, 
his strong spirit of love caused a new hope to 
spring alive in the heart of the stricken person, 
and very often the patient was made whole, 
"leaping for joy." 

There is no doubt but that many of these 
miraculous cures were genuine, yet doubtless 
with the passing years and the stories told 
and re-told and written out long after the death 
of Jesus, many errors and exaggerations have 
crept in, the result of excessive zeal. 
In one town of Samaria, Jesus went to a well 
where there was a woman drinking water. 
When he asked her for a drink she was much 
surprised, for the Jews usually shunned the 
Samaritans. He told her how he had been to 
Jerusalem to worship, and she, pointing to 
the hills, said, "Our fathers worshipped in 



72 tEfte Jfflan of g>orrotog 

this mountain." And he answered, "Woman, 
believe me, the hour cometh when you will 
neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem 
worship the Father, but the true worshipper 
will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. " 
Then again we have a vivid glimpse of his 
psychic power when he guessed the woman's 
whole history, much to her amazement. 
This insight into the hearts of things — seeing 
the motive behind the act, and knowing the 
conditions and environment of each soul, gave 
Jesus a sense of justice such as the world has 
very seldom witnessed. 

Knowing humanity well, and realizing its 
many temptations and weaknesses made him 
forgiving. "To know all is to forgive all." To 
really know people is to love them. So with 
the wrong-doer Jesus was ever lenient. All his 
biting sarcasm was for those in high places, the 
rich, the educated, who deliberately entered 
into a life of selfish aggrandizement. 
The courtesy and kindness that Jesus had 
been shown in Samaria he repaid by various 
complimentary references to the Samaritans 
— he glorified these people the Jews despised. 
His parable of the Good Samaritan is the 
finest piece of literature in the New Testament, 



Z\)t jHan of ggrrotog 73 

and the only parable that rings absolutely true. 
It contains only one hundred and eighty words, 
and not one could be spared; neither do I see 
where one could with profit be added : 

A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, 
and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his 
raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving 
him half dead. 

And by chance there came down a certain priest 
that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on 
the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was 
at the place, came and looked on him, and passed 
by on the other side. 

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where 
he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion 
on him, and went to him and bound up his wounds, 
pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, 
and brought him to an inn, and took care of him jt 
And on the morrow when he departed, he took out 
two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto 
him, Take care of him : and whatsoever thou spendest 
more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor 
unto him that fell among the thieves? 



74 Ifre jHan of &ortotog 

^^*te[ RRIVING back at Nazareth, Jesus 
f ^| now found that his presence scarcely 
y&ma made a ripple on the surface of the 
/^^/& lazy town jt It was also thus at 
Capernaum and Bethsaida — naught 
but indifference. 

Jesus did not seem to consider that in its very 
nature excitement is transient: to receive one 
big reception in a place is quite enough for a 
lifetime — a great success can very seldom be 
repeated. The dumbness, dullness and inane 
stupidity of the people seriously offended the 
Master. He cried aloud at the unimportant 
little cross-road hamlets, "Woe unto thee, 
Chorazin ! woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! for if the 
mighty works, which were done in you, had 
been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would 
have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes 
###### And thou, Capernaum, which art 
exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down 
to hell!" 

This coldness and indifference that he had met 
with, for a time soured his disposition and 
made him forget his native poise and serenity. 
C| The chief charm in the teachings of Jesus 
lies in their paradoxical and enigmatic quality. 
Without this, it is certain that his words 



Wyt jHan of g>orrotog 75^ 

could not have endured. The expressions of 
Jesus, which are found to be untrue literally, 
are never discarded, for they are believed by 
many to be true poetically and spiritually. 
New interpretations and new meanings can 
constantly be found for doubtful passages. 
Indeed, a most prosperous and powerful sect 
has been built up in America within twenty 
years, founded upon an entirely new view of 
the work and words of Jesus. 
The use of metaphor, paradox and parable is 
an attempt to make clear an uncertain thought 
to one's self, and we indulge in it only when 
we do not exactly know what we desire to 
express. Metaphysics is valuable only to the 
man whose feelings outmatch his intellect. 
When he is cornered, such a one can always 
retreat in a fog of words. A metaphysician is 
an ink-fish. Such expressions as " the Kingdom 
of God," "the Son of Man," "the Child of 
God," "the Gospel of Truth," "the Son of 
God," "the World of Spirit," "redemption," 
"fallen man," "salvation," "damnation," 
all require an explanation, and are valuable 
only as we read meanings into them, and 
scarcely any two men will define them alike. 
<§ The chief advantage of metaphysics is that it 



76 8jg jHan of &orrotog 

makes people think — they have to cudgel their 
imaginations in order to comprehend what it 
all means. And it means, for them, what they 
think it means — all they can evolve out of it 
or read into it. 

JUPTHTT the day that Jesus left 
ggk If Jerusalem until he returned there 

for the last time, was about a 
B JB year and six months. 
fl& J*^ During this time he seemed to 

have been wandering about the 
country — preaching, talking, discoursing and 
healing the sick. 

The tone of his discourses grew more severe, 
and life to him took on a sombre tinge. The 
lightness and buoyancy of his spirit in degree 
had departed; the future seemed full of grim 
forebodings. 

He had broken loose from all home ties. The 
advice which he so freely gave to others, he 
had himself followed^ "The man who has 
left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or 
children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, 
shall receive an hundred fold more now, and 
in the world to come life eternal. " 
He told his disciples to carry neither scrip nor 



Wfpt jflan of gorrotog 77 

purse, nor change of clothing, but when they 
wanted anything, to enter into the nearest 
house, gently and firmly saying, "Peace be 
unto thee ! " and there remain as long as they 
wished, "for the laborer is worthy of his hire," 
•I This seems to be a reversal of his former 
teaching, for when a man preaches and asks 
for food and shelter because he preaches, and 
declares "the laborer is worthy of his hire," 
he at that moment establishes a priesthood 
that demands recompense and also immunity 
from labor. The old, old idea of priestcraft 
has come back by a new route! All things 
move in circles. 

It is very plain that Jesus could not have been 
a deep and accurate thinker. He knew nothing 
of mathematics, and the law of cause and 
effect was outside of his realm. For commerce 
and trade he had only contempt. Architecture 
and art he despised. He was a carpenter, but 
we never hear of his taking any pride in the 
product of his hands. "Come unto me all ye 
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest. " 

He cared more for rest than work, and seemed 
to know nothing of the difference between 
joyous work and joyless labor. He did not 



78 gpfre jfflan of gmrrotog 

know that commerce is the carrying of things 
from where they are plentiful to where they 
are needed. He didn't know that business is 
founded upon man's faith in man, and is the 
real civilizer: missionaries only doing good as 
they prepare the way for trade. With such 
thinkers as that other great Jew, Spinoza, 
Jesus does not for an instant compare in point 
of intellect. Neither was his mind capable of 
the daring reach made by such thinkers as 
Leonardo, Newton, Herbert Spencer, John 
Stuart Mill and Ernst Haeckel. 
Where he greatly surpasses the men just 
named is in his sublime faith in both himself 
and his divine mission. He believed that he 
was in absolute communion with the living 
God, the Creator of the World. And this 
great welling heart of love that went out to 
all humanity, seeking to bring all men into 
a relation of brotherhood, was at once his 
supreme virtue, and his fault. For such faith 
as his there is no fulfillment. To do away with 
all property — and property is only stored-up 
labor — and to break all earthly ties, we do not 
now regard as sound philosophy. 
But Jesus was laboring under the illusion that 
all great reformers labor under: he expected 



■_ 



gPbe Jflan of g>orrotog 79 

the great change to come quickly. "Lo! the 
time is at hand and now is!" <I Nearly two 
thousand years have passed, and mankind 
is not yet ready to accept the doctrine of 
peace on earth, good will to men. 
The nations that, somewhat ironically, are 
called "Christian," have the largest armies, 
the most complicated and powerful machines 
for destruction, and a stubborn and dogmatic 
priesthood, almost as useless as that against 
which Jesus preached, and which, in truth, 
put him to death. 

Those men of the French Revolution who 
expected that when they did away with this, 
why, then that would rule, were mistaken. 
Mankind is part of Nature, and Nature works 
by very slow evolution; her silent changes are 
scarcely perceptible to us in our little lives. 
^ "Leave all and follow me," nothing is of 
value. 

"The end is at hand," said Jesus. But it was 
not. "Before you have gone over the cities of 
Israel the Son of Man shall appear." He did 
not seem to realize that the building up of a 
Perfect Society would necessitate a Perfect 
People, and that these require ages to evolve. 
A Perfect Society, to be sure, will be a matter 



80 fcfte Jttan of g>ortofrg 

of soul and right intent, all founded on the 
blessed idea of brotherhood, but beyond this it 
will be the result of deliberate, mathematical 
calculation. It will demand intellects that 
consider sanitation, architecture, agriculture, 
civil engineering, transportation and education 
quite as valuable as faith in a Supreme Being 
who does not count the hairs of your head, 
nor note the sparrow's fall, since three-fourths 
of all sparrows die in the nest or fall to the 
earth and perish before they can fly. 
The men who will bring about the Kingdom 
of God on earth will believe that sewerage is 
as necessary as prayer; and they will likewise 
realize that the useful work of Martha was just 
as much the "better part" as that of Mary, 
who merely sat and listened to the beautiful 
words of a beautiful teacher. 
We believe in the woman who sweeps a room 
to the glory of God. 

More than this, when the Ideal arrives, it will 
come through useful effort, and not through 
contemplation. Starving India, lost in thought, 
falls an easy prey to barbaric "Christianity," 
active, alert and inventive. Work and love 
will be the solvents — not faith, prayer and 
preaching. 



flflje jtlan of ^orrotog 81 

^BBjJg^HERE has only been one Christian. 

^j and he was a Jew," said Heine, 

II but this was irony. Christ could 

^^ f not be called a Christian jfe The 

Christianity that we know is a 

composite institution, formed by the grafting 

of Judaism upon Paganism, and this hybrid 

faith by a series of strange coincidences took 

the name of the obscure but noble ascetic of 

Galilee. 

Paul was the real founder of Christianity — not 
Jesus. Paul never saw Jesus and it was many 
years after the death of the Saviour before 
Paul heard of him jt Paul was an educated 
Jew — and was a bit boastful of the fact. He 
was versed in all the intricacies of Jewish Law, 
and by habit was an expert in all the quip and 
quibble which occupied the so-called learned 
men of his time. He became convinced that 
Jesus w r as the actual Messiah foretold by the 
Jewish Prophets, and he set out to prove the 
fact by use of exegesis and f orensics. 
The quality of his intellect is shown in the 
remark, " If Christ did not rise from the dead, 
then is our religion vain." All the gentleness, 
beauty and nobility of Jesus were as nothing to 
St. Paul, unless he was the Messiah foretold 



82 fflbe jflan of g>orrotog 

by Daniel, Ezekiel and Micah. St. Paul was a 
sciolist, and it was sciolism that the spirit of 
the hive then wanted. And curiously enough, 
this cleaving to the letter, and all this wrangle 
and contention about abstruse nothings, was 
exactly the thing that Jesus had inveighed 
against. So, essentially, Christianity, with its 
hair-splitting differences, was what Jesus most 
despised. 

The newspapers nowadays having the largest 
circulations are not necessarily the best, they 
are simply those that most ably reflect the 
intelligence — or the lack of it — of the people. 
Great things are only done by the minority. 
The zeal of St. Paul and his apostles gave 
the people what they wanted, and Christianity 
grew so popular that in three hundred years, 
the Roman Emperor thought well to make 
peace with it by adopting it & The fiat of 
Constantine turned every Pagan temple into 
a Christian church, and every Pagan priest into 
a Christian preacher. The old Roman fable of 
Orpheus and Eurydice, typifying the approach 
of spring, was changed to Easter, and the feast 
of Ceres became the Eucharist. Names change 
quickly, but humanity evolves so slowly that 
we almost say it is forever the same. 



W^t jElan of g>orrotog 83 

So Paulian Judaism and Pagan Rome joined 
hands, and we have " Christianity, " with 
its thousands of variations and modifications, 
tempered and twisted by custom and desire, 
and the peculiarities of race prejudice. At the 
last, men do what they want to do, or at least 
what they can, and they name it what they 
choose. 

If the question were asked, "Is the religion 
of Jesus feasible in practical life?" the answer 
would have to be, " We do not know — it has 
never been tried." The nearest approach to 
it to-day, perhaps, is manifest in the life of 
Tolstoy, and since Tolstoy is a very rich man, 
his methods are arbitrary, artificial and wholly 
valueless. He plays at life. It is a laboratory 
experiment as compared to actual manufacture 
for the market. The two best exponents of 
Tolstoyism in this country are a successful 
Chicago lawyer and a man who lives the simple 
life in a costly mansion in New York, with 
many servants at his beck and call, and who 
controls an estate of three thousand acres on 
the Hudson. The richest monopolist in the 
world is an orthodox Baptist. 
We refer to London, New York and Chicago 
as Christian cities — at least all these cities send 




84 fcfje jtlan of &orrotog 

millions of dollars and numerous missionaries 
abroad to convert "the heathen," but we can 
well imagine that the lowly Nazarene could 
not at this time, by any stretch of his vivid 
imagination, see his spirit reflected in these 
places, any more than he saw his heart's desire 
made manifest in Jerusalem of old. 

LMOST eighteen months had gone 
by since Jesus and his disciples were 
at Jerusalem. Their life of leisure 
began to pall, and the ecstasy of 
their religious faith was on the wane. 
The simple fishermen Jesus had taken from 
their work, were needed at home. Soon their 
little gardens and vineyards would be overrun 
with weeds and brambles. The disciples were 
growing restless — a holiday that is continued 
indefinitely ceases to be a holiday. 
They were going back to their homes; the 
promised Kingdom of God, to them, was not 
in sight. 

Jesus, much disturbed by their complaints, 
sternly answered thus: "No man who has put 
his hand to the plough and looks back, is fit 
for the Kingdom of God!" 
At another time he met a man and said in his 



Wbt jflan of gorrotog 85 

brief, direct way, "Follow thou me!" To this 

the man replied, "Master, suffer me first to 

go and bury my father. " 

And Jesus answered, "Let the dead bury 

their dead, but do you go and proclaim the 

Kingdom of God." 

Evidently he himself was growing impatient, 

for where before he was proclaiming the joy 

of owning nothing, and urging everybody to 

dispose of their homes and everything in them, 

and give the proceeds to the poor, he now 

exclaims wearily, "The foxes have holes and 

the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of 

Man hath not where to lay his head. " 

There were monks before the time of Jesus, 

but his thoughts of celibacy and poverty, and 

of keeping one's self unspotted from the 

world — regarding the world and the world's 

work as unholy and unclean — gave a powerful 

impulse to monasticism. 

Marriage was regarded by Jesus as purely an 

expediency and soon to be done away with. In 

heaven we would be sexless, and there would 

be neither marriage nor giving in marriage. 

<J It will thus be seen that to him the only 

true Christian was a monk. 

Our ideal of bravely living in the world and 



86 £fjc jflmt of &orrotog 

helping to carry the world's burdens, had no 
lodgment in the mind of Jesus. To him family 
ties and the life of business and useful activity 
would not win heaven. 

"Master, what must I do to inherit eternal 
life? " a young man asked. 
And Jesus answered, "Go sell all thy goods 
and give to the poor, and follow me!" 
Jesus knew that there was trouble ahead — 
he could hear the mutterings of the thunder. 
"You may think I am come to bring peace 
upon earth: I came not to bring peace, but 
a sword. " " I am come to set a man against his 
father, the daughter against her mother and the 
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. " 
<][ "They shall put you out of the synagogues: 
yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth 
you will think that he doeth God service. " 
"If the world hate you, ye know it hated me 
before it hated you. " 

He felt it was impossible to prove by reason 
all he taught, and therefore he demanded faith, 
and urged all his followers to "believe." 
Indeed, it is highly probable that he did not 
have any clear idea himself about his mission. 
One day it was a heavenly kingdom, the next 
the perfect fulfillment was to take place here 



Wf)t Jflan of g>orrotog 87 

and now. Yet at all times he was clear on the 
purity of life, and the thought of living close 
to God. 

He experienced great anguish and was much 
disturbed by the indifference of the people 
and the opposition he met with. His enemies 
said he was insane — "possessed with devils. " 
<§ Even the disciples became capricious, and 
quarreled among themselves about who should 
have precedence now and hereafter <£> Their 
impatience communicated itself to the Master. 
We become like those with whom we are 
associated. Contact with querulousness begets 
querulousness. Such a nerve-tension cannot 
last forever — we must get relaxation in some 
way; through death at the most we can gain 
rest ! <£ Jt 

Jesus remembered the fate of John the Baptist 
and possibly he was aware that now his tone 
had become very much like that of John. If 
he continued to preach, he knew that death 
would be the result. He had little to live for 
— he had broken with his family — he had no 
wife, no property and no worldly ambitions. 
Jerusalem seemed to be a very den of iniquity. 
He would go there and do all in his power 
to reclaim it from its faults and wickedness. 



88 jjgfte Jltan of g>orrotog 

<J It is quite probable that his journey was 
hastened by reports which came to him that 
Antipas Herod was on his trail, believing that 
he was the successor of John. Jesus had been 
preaching within five miles of Tiberias, where 
Antipas and Herodias reigned, and there was 
danger of his being captured, taken across the 
border and beheaded. 

He did not value his life highly, but he was 
not yet ready to fling it away — he would first 
sound a warning voice to the iniquitous and 
corrupt Jerusalem, a voice that was to thunder 
down the centuries, cause thrones to totter, 
and affect the destinies of millions yet unborn. 
He started southward, accompanied by various 
disciples and faithful women, who ministered 
to him. 

He was bidding good-bye forever to his home, 
kinsmen and beautiful Galilee. 

3MAGINE a Yorkshire man standing 
in front of Saint Paul's Cathedral in 
London, preaching the overthrow of 
the Episcopal Clergy, and we have a 
spectacle no more peculiar than that 
of Jesus standing in the porch of the Holy 
Temple at Jerusalem, declaring of it, " I tell you, 



Wht jfflatt of &orrotog 89 

there shall not be one stone left upon another ! " 
The rich Pharisees who prayed on the street 
corners, who affected a peculiar apparel, and 
carried a holier-than-thou attitude, absolutely 
disgusted Jesus. He ridiculed them all with 
stinging contempt. The Roman publicans who 
collected taxes — and therefore to Jesus were 
really thieves — were far preferable to these 
Jewish hypocrites. 

He saw a poor widow approach the Temple 
and drop into the box a farthing, and turning 
to his disciples he said, "She has cast in more 
than they all, for the rest gave out of their 
abundance, but she gave all she had. " 
The proud, richly robed priests pushed in past 
him, jostling him out of the way, and his eyes 
followed them with pitying scorn. He was so 
much of a theologian that he could not keep 
away from the Temple, any more than can a 
Protestant clergyman at Rome keep away 
from Saint Peter's. 

Jesus was very unhappy here at Jerusalem. 
He was separated from all the world of valleys 
and mountains and flowers and birds that he 
loved so well. His days were passed in bitter 
arguments. If he preached in the streets, he 
was interrupted, and his discourse would end 



90 Cfte jHan of gmrrotog 

in wordy warfare and often in sophistication, 
t§ Evidently he came to be regarded as more 
or less of a nuisance by the self-important 
priests, but he was scarcely known at all to 
the people at large. Not a contemporary writer 
mentions him, excepting that single allusion 
by Josephus, and this is now believed to be an 
interpolation. 

There were mad mutterings by the officials 
against his sharp criticisms. Nicodemus, who 
was a lawyer of some note, and admired him 
so much on his former visit that he came to 
him secretly by night for an interview, once 
defended him in an offhand way, and one of 
the priests asked, suggestively, "What! are 
you, too, a Galilean? " 

And another one passed the pleasantry along 
by asking, "Can any good thing come out of 
Nazareth? " At which, we can well imagine, all 
laughed. This zealous Nazarene, to them, was 
a proposition not to be taken seriously. 
Jesus disliked the city proper so much that 
he usually spent the night at one of the little 
villages outside of the walls. At Bethany he 
was on the most friendly terms with Mary and 
her sister Martha, and their brother Lazarus, 
a plain, honest carpenter. 



Cfte Jfflan of &orrotog 91 

Mary, especially, though a woman of the town 
— a sinner — appealed to him, and he prized 
her friendship J> Jesus had no standing in 
respectable society, and we hear of his going 
to the houses of lepers and being entertained 
by them. It was at the house of one Simon, a 
leper, where Mary entered, and in a moment 
of adoration, bathed his feet with her tears and 
wiped them with the hairs of her head. There 
is no love like the love of a proscribed person. 
<§ When Simon reproved her, Jesus at once 
came to her defense. 

Once a mob had collected and were going to 
kill a woman. They asked Jesus what they 
should do with her, and he answered, "Let 
him who is without sin cast the first stone 1" 
•I We can imagine how the mob slunk away 
before this glorious presence. 
He lifted the terrified woman to her feet and 
tenderly asked, "Has any one condemned 
thee?" And the accusers all having fled, she 
looked around and then slowly replied, "No, 
Master. " 

And he said, "Then neither do I condemn 
thee — go and sin no more." 
Very little headway was made in his preaching, 
however — only the poor, the outcasts and the 



92 gflje Jttan of gmrrotog 

despised came to him. Jerusalem went its 
riotous way as of old — just as it does to-day. 
So we hear of Jesus going up on the Mount 
of Olives above the Temple, and in sorrow 
and disappointment crying, "0 Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and 
stonest them that are sent unto thee, how 
often would I have gathered thy children 
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens 
under her wings, and ye would not ! " 

^■■■g^HE exhibition of religious rancor 

m\ that at times forms a fierce hate, 

A B seems to be an essential part of 

^§L| J the fabric of most religions. It is 

like the sexual impulse in those 

animals which are docile except in the rutting 

season. Intensity of any emotion may produce 

an irritability that unships reason's rudder and 

makes life uncertain and unsafe. 

We are all familiar with people who love their 

enemies, yet hold the balance true by hating 

their friends. If you are in sore distress, and the 

hot breath of the pack is close upon your heels, 

do not count on receiving succor and assistance 

from the ones who profess a religion of love, 

gentleness and magnanimity. 



ffifte Jfflan of ^orrotog 93 

In argument the Jews have ever been bitter 
and acrimonious when dealing with questions 
which they consider as sacred. Even among 
themselves they have revealed little patience 
in dispute. Jesus seemed to be a genuine Jew 
in his mental attitude toward what he thought 
wrong J> Several of the Greek and Roman 
philosophers understood perfectly that truth 
is a point of view, and is to be found at the 
end of a circle. Belief is largely a matter of 
temperament, so Epictetus, for instance, was 
lenient with opponents. Socrates once said, 
"No man is so thoroughly right as to be 
entitled to say that others are totally wrong. 
It is well to affirm your own truth, but it is not 
well to condemn those who think differently. " 
<§ This judicial quality was lacking in the 
Nazarene — he was a thorough revolutionary in 
his intensity. With simple folks, the ignorant, 
the sick, weak or helpless he was gentle, but 
when it came to those in authority, he was most 
severe. He forgave the erring woman, but he 
would not forgive these priests and lawyers. 
fl "Woe unto you, ye lawyers! for ye lade 
men with burdens grievous to be borne, and 
ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one 
of your fingers. 



94 gpjg jtlan of ^orrotog 

"Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchers 
of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 
"Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will 
send them prophets and apostles and some of 
them they shall slay and persecute; that the 
blood of the prophets which was shed from the 
foundation of the world may be required of this 
generation, from the blood of Abel unto the 
blood of Zacharias, which perished between 
the altar and the temple : verily I say unto you, 
it shall be required of this generation. 
"Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken 
away the key of knowledge: ye entered not 
in yourselves, and them that were entering in 
ye have hindered. " 

j fJffcMj^ TTF, tide of events was fast hastening 

a ■ Jesus to his doom — that is to say, 

fi B to deathless fame. Had he been 

^£1- f left to himself, he would have 

beaten his wings against the bars of 

condition until discouraged, and then slipped 

back to the sheltering obscurity of Galilee. 

By his life he could not reform the world, and 

this he surely saw — but through his death he 

might accomplish much. 

Jerusalem was too densely dull and dead in a 



gjg jttan of gorrotoj 95 

spiritual way to pay serious attention or take 
note of his warnings — in Jerusalem he had 
performed no wonders. And indeed it seems 
he remained there but a little while altogether. 
<I From the last time he left Galilee until his 
death was only about six months, and much 
of this period was occupied in excursions to 
the villages round about. In these little places 
Jesus and his disciples felt more at home. 
Once they went as far away as Jericho, and 
there made at least one convert, Zacchaeus, 
a little man who filled a big office, and he 
turned over to them one-half of his goods for 
the poor. 

This circumstance encouraged them so much 
that when they again went back to Jerusalem 
they prepared a demonstration. Jesus rode a 
she-ass, followed by her colt, and the disciples 
ran before and strewed palms in the way, and 
called aloud, "Hosanna! hosanna! Blessed is 
he that cometh in the name of the Lord!" 
They proclaimed the rider as "King of the 
Jews. " 

Doubtless this created some stir, and we can 
imagine that the little procession was looked 
at by many people in the amused way that we 
regard the drums and cries of the Salvation 



96 gge jHan of gmrrotog 

Army. In truth, Jesus and his disciples formed 
the first Salvation Army, and it is the avowed 
claim of the leaders that the modern "army" 
is patterned after the original one at Jerusalem. 
ij In many cities the Salvation Army has been 
voted a nuisance, and in certain instances the 
police have placed the leaders under arrest. 
Only a few years ago in England, such people, 
who did not work under the auspices of the 
established church, paid the penalty for public 
preaching by an ignominious death. 
The high priests of Jerusalem did not regard 
the brilliant and daring young preacher and 
his noisy disciples amusing at all — they were 
a menace. Jesus desired to disrupt Judaism, 
and if possible he would place himself at the 
head of the new order! Was he not, even 
now being hailed as "King of the Jews?" 
•J Fear and hate spring from the same soil — 
this man must be suppressed for the safety of 
society. It is a curious fact that most religious 
leaders regard themselves and their institutions 
as the corner-stone of civilization. 
In February of what is now our year Thirty- 
three, the chief priests met in council, and 
the question was discussed as to what should 
be done with this Galilean disturber. And we 



gEfte jflan of gmrroto* 97 

hear of one of the speakers stubbornly putting 
forth the suggestive thought: "It is expedient 
that one man should die for the entire people. " 
That is to say, for the good of society, Jesus 
should be put to death. 

The high priest at this time was Caiaphas, 
appointed by the Roman Procurator, Valerius 
Gratus. This office seems to have been merely 
nominal, for the actual high priest of the Jews 
in Jerusalem was Annas, sometimes called 
Hanan. Annas held no office, yet was regarded 
as the ruler, and evidently named the legal 
high priest, for Caiaphas was his son-in-law, 
and five of his sons filled the office in turn. 
CJ Annas was a successful politician. 
It was a son of this Annas who caused James, 
"the Lord's brother," to be executed by 
being stoned, which was the death probably 
at first provided for Jesus. Society has always 
reserved for itself the right to destroy those 
who threaten its existence. This is as much 
so now as then. Annas was logical and right 
from the standpoint of civilized Christianity. 
Jesus was an anarchist — he was placing his 
own individuality above the law. He quoted 
the law, and then added a law of his own, 
saying, "But I say unto you ******* 



98 fcfjc Jfflan of gorrotog 

The Mosaic Law provides a penalty of death 
for any who seek to overthrow it. Law, like 
capital, is timid. Of course the political priests 
quaked and trembled. 

Annas ordered that the warrant of arrest be 
issued. Hearing of the danger, Jesus went to 
a town called Ephraim, a day's journey from 
the city of Jerusalem Ji The Feast of the 
Passover was about to occur, so the enemy 
quietly waited, knowing he would soon return, 
as was his custom. ^ Jesus and his little band 
of followers had often been threatened before, 
and they thought the trouble would shortly 
subside and that they might go along as usual, 
^f After a few days at Ephraim, they returned to 
Jerusalem to attend the Feast of the Passover. 
The disciples were full of zeal — they thought 
"the kingdom" was at hand & They were 
like John Brown at Harper's Ferry, imagining 
that to simply strike the match would be 
enough to start the conflagration. But for 
himself Jesus was troubled and in sore doubt. 
*$ It was decided to enter the city in a bold 
manner, and this they did, the disciples going 
ahead and crying aloud, " Hosanna to the Son 
of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the 
name of the Lord. " 



Wht Jflan of gmrrotoa 99 

"Master, rebuke thy disciples," advised a 
well-meaning and kindly-disposed Pharisee. 
But Jesus refused to interfere in any way with 
their exuberance. 

The officers of the chief priests could then 
very easily have arrested Jesus, but to do 
so at this public time might create undue 
excitement. The city was full of visitors who 
had come to attend the feast, not to witness 
an execution. 

Four days passed and Jesus came regularly to 
the Temple and preached on the steps and in 
the porches. The chief priests held another 
council at the house of Caiaphas. Some of 
them hesitated about taking the step, but 
now it was decided to arrest the man at once, 
and do it surely, quietly and quickly, so as 
not to create a public scene. There was really 
great danger that an open arrest and a public 
trial might be used by Jesus to bring about a 
revolutionary climax — his eloquent tongue 
and noble presence must not be given too much 
chance to show their power! It was therefore 
decided to seize the man the next night, and 
to this end detectives of the priests bribed 
Judas, one of the disciples, who had some 
personal grievance against Jesus, to guide the 



ioo fcfje jfRan of &orrotog 

arresting party to the place where Jesus was 
to be found. It seems that Jesus was not so 
well known to the police but that he had to 
be pointed out. And this Judas agreed to do 
for a trivial amount, "thirty pieces of silver, " 
or about five dollars. 

Only a few days before at the house of Simon 
the leper, Mary had taken costly spikenard 
and annointed Jesus, and Judas asked, " Why 
was not this ointment sold for three hundred 
pence and given to the poor?" Jesus reproved 
him, saying, "The poor ye always have with 
you; but me ye have not always," and the 
rebuke had rankled in the heart of the disciple. 
<$ When we quarrel with a man we lose all 
faith in his mission. Judas had entirely lost 
faith and thought the whole thing was going 
into dissolution very soon. "The Kingdom of 
God" was to him a failure and he had better 
get out of it all he could, and at the same 
time save himself from danger. So he turned 
"state's evidence," an action that has made 
his name the most easily remembered of all 
the twelve, and handed it down to posterity 
as the synonym of all that is detestable and 
treacherous. 
The person who deserts at the time of danger 



Wf)t Jttan of gmrrotog 101 

is a common type, easily understood. And 
that any man could have twelve disciples for 
three years, and none doubt, deny, or betray 
him to his enemies, would be a miracle indeed. 

3T was night. Jesus had supped with 
his disciples for the last time. They 
had passed beyond the walls of the 
city, and gone noiselessly through the 
valley and over the brook of Cedron. 
Within a little park called the Garden of 
Gethsemane, close to the home of the father 
of Mark the disciple, at the foot of the Mount 
of Olives, they rested with the intention of 
passing the night there. 
The weary disciples had disposed themselves 
under the trees and were asleep, ^f The heart of 
Jesus was heavy — he was sore oppressed and 
God's gift of sleep was never again to be his. 
<IHe went a little way apart to pray. The deep 
presentiment of coming peril was upon him — 
his psychic spirit intuitively realized that at 
that moment an armed force was marching 
toward him with hostile intent. 
In a moment of seeming weakness, he cried 
aloud, in agonizing tones, "Father, if it be 
thy will, let this cup pass from me!" 



102 Z\)t 0m of gorrotog 

And even as he spoke there was the flare of 

torches seen through the trees and the steady 

tramp of soldiers could be plainly heard. 

Judas advanced at the head of the troop and 

cried out in a voice that ill-concealed his 

agitation, "Hail, Rabbi!" 

Jesus moved forward to meet him and asked, 

"Whom seek ye?" 

"We seek Jesus, the Nazarene!" 

" I am he, " was the firm reply. 

Judas stepped forward and kissed him on the 

cheek, which was the signal of identification 

agreed upon with the soldiers. 

Malchus, a servant of the high priest, and 

Annas, probably the son of Annas the actual 

ruler, proceeded to bind the hands of Jesus 

behind him. Peter, who was suddenly aroused 

from sleep, seeing the Master in the hands of 

the soldiers, rushed in, and with a sword struck 

at Malchus. 

Jesus reproved Peter and before the surprised 

soldiers could capture the belligerent disciple, 

he slipped away into the darkness and was gone. 

^ Mark, wrapped in a mantle, stood by. The 

soldiers tried to seize him, but he struggled, 

freed himself and fled, sacrificing his robe. 

<J The disciples now had all forsaken the Man 



Wbt jHan of g>orrotog 103 

of Sorrows — he was alone with his enemies, a 
prisoner. <JThe march was taken up for the 
house of Annas. It was a little after mid- 
night when they reached there, and evidently 
they were expected, for Annas at once held 
court and questioned the prisoner. 
Peter and John followed afar off, but now 
entered with the rabble. The night had grown 
cold and Peter approached a brazier of coals 
in the hallway to warm his quaking form. 
Evidently he was indiscreet enough to talk, 
for a maid standing near asked, "Are you not 
one of them? — thy speech betrayeth thee!" 
€J And Peter denied that he had anything to 
do with Jesus, declaring with an oath, "I 
know not the man!" 

Annas, having satisfied himself that they had 
gotten the right man, and not having the legal 
power to condemn him, sent him away to his 
son-in-law, Caiaphas, the high priest. 
Here he was also expected and two witnesses 
were ready to swear that they heard him say, 
"I am able to "destroy the Temple of God 
and to build it in three days." 
To speak disrespectfully of the Temple was, 
according to the Jewish Law, the same thing 
as to blaspheme Jehovah. 



104 tEfte Jllan of g>orroto3 

At this place Jesus was given the privilege of 
examining witnesses and also of contradicting 
them by his own testimony, but he was silent. 
His lofty courage had now come to him in 
full measure. He knew that nothing he could 
say or do would save him, and in fact he had 
resolved to let the proceedings take their own 
course. "As a sheep dumb before its shearer, 
so opened he not his mouth. " 
By his silence he admitted his guilt. 
There was only one thing to do. The Law 
provided that any one who tried to disrupt 
the Jewish religion should die. With one voice 
the company who made up the Sanhedrin, or 
court, declared him guilty of blasphemy and 
fixed the penalty as death. 
But before the sentence could be carried out it 
must be ratified by the Roman Government. 
Now Pontius Pilate, the Procurator, was not a 
part of the conspiracy, and there was no other 
way to approach him excepting in the regular 
order of business. They could go to his office 
early in the morning and then demand that he 
should hear the case. If they could make it 
appear that he had plotted against the State, 
pretending to be "The King of the Jews," 
and therefore in actual insurrection against the 



tEfte jflan of ^orrotog 105 

Roman Government which did not recognize 
any king save the Emperor Tiberius, why, then 
Pilate would endorse their indictment and 
the rest of the proceedings would be easy. 
€J It lacked several hours of daylight and 
Jesus was left in charge of the soldiers, to be 
taken to the Judgment Hall of Pilate early 
in the morning. 

The priests and all the other members of the 
court had now gone and were sleeping in their 
comfortable beds. 

As extra reward for their night service, strong 
drink had been given out among the soldiers, 
and when the priests went away, all dignity 
and decency vanished. 

Jesus was bound hand and foot with cords that 
cut deep into his sensitive flesh Jt There is 
always a temptation among brutal men to take 
advantage of a prisoner. One soldier struck 
the cheek of the Master with his open hand. 
Others did likewise, and still others spat in his 
face. They platted a crown of twigs and set it 
on his head. They hailed him in mock respect 
as "Rabbi, Rabbi!" and called him "King 
of the Jews," falling down upon their knees 
and worshiping him in derisive insult. 
Through this drunken riot Jesus spake no 



106 fcfjc 0jati of gmrrotog 

word, enduring all in the majestic silence that 
had been his throughout the farcical trial. 
The night gradually passed, the stars slunk 
away, the heavens grew bright in the East. 
The soldiers were tired out with their revelry 
and were sitting or lying around in drunken 
stupor, careless of their prisoner, having fully 
satiated their cruelty. 

The prisoner's face burned with fever, his lips 
were parched, his eyes beamed with a strange* 
unnatural brightness. He knew that this day 
would be his last on earth ; never again would 
he and his disciples gather together in joyous 
comradeship and live the life of love and faith ; 
the dream of universal brotherhood for him 
was past, but by no outward sign did he reveal 
the inward thoughts and emotions that surged 
through his brain. 

A new guard appeared and the others were 
dismissed. They unbound the feet of Jesus 
so he could walk. His arms were still pinioned 
behind him. The order to march was given 
and the guard started down the stony street, 
the prisoner in their midst. 




qTfre jtlan of ^orrotog 107 

S the squad of soldiers, dragging the 
prisoner, marched along through the 
streets, a curious crowd collected 
and followed after to the great stone 
structure that always reminded the 
Jews of their subserviency to the Romans. 
^ It was early in the morning, but Pilate was 
at his post. He was apprised of what was the 
trouble — a Jewish renegade from Galilee had 
come down to Jerusalem, claiming to be the 
"King of the Jews." He had been arrested, 
and was now at the door — would the Governor 
consent to listen to the charges against the 
man who had set himself against the Roman 
Government and defied the Emperor? 
Pilate smiled in derision, but according to the 
demands of the gathering crowd, came out 
and mounted the Gabbatha, or Pavement, that 
faced the temple courts & These Jews were 
continually quarreling and bringing their racial 
quibbles to him for adjustment. 
Twenty years later, Gallio, a brother of Seneca, 
was annoyed in the same way: the Jews had 
captured a little man, Paul by name, and had 
brought him to the Proconsul for judgment, 
and Gallio said, " If it were a matter of wrong 
or injustice, ye Jews, reason would that I 



108 W&t jtTan of g>orrotog 

should bear with you. But if it be a question 
of words or names, and of your law, look ye 
to it, for I will be no judge of such matters, " 
And then the historian adds, "And he drave 
them from the judgment seat. " CJ Pilate was 
sorely tempted to drive the mob away. Here 
were Jews who had captured a Jew, and now 
wanted a Roman to punish him. Pilate knew 
full well that the Jews were not so zealous and 
jealous in their loyalty to Rome as to punish a 
Jew who was not in sympathy with the Roman 
occupancy. When he himself before had tried 
to apprehend Jews who had been guilty of 
treason, he found such were always protected, 
shielded and aided to escape by their country- 
men e£* eS* 

Pilate scorned the clamor against Jesus, and 

taking the prisoner, retired into the Judgment 

Hall and shut the door. 

Here he questioned Jesus — no witnesses were 

present, and we know nothing concerning the 

specific conversation that passed between the 

two. In any event, Pilate was quite favorably 

disposed toward the man, and when he came 

out he said to the leaders, "I find no fault in 

him." 

At this there was at once a mighty clamor of 



Z\)t Jflan of g>orrotog 109 

accusation, instigated by the priests who were 
scattered among the mob. We know a little 
about how the mob spirit grows and how 
stupidly blind its immature judgments always 
are. "He calls himself King of the Jews!" 
"He refuses to pay tribute to Caesar. " 
"Crucify him — crucify him!" 
Pilate asked, "Art thou indeed King of the 
Jews?" 

Jesus ignored the question, but calmly said 
without a tremor of fear, "My kingdom is 
not of this world. " 

Pilate was not a weak man — he was a genuine 
Roman, and in conflict with ignorance and 
stupidity had shown before this, and revealed 
later, that he had a will of his own — he could 
strike and strike hard when in his opinion the 
occasion justified it. The record of his reign 
is told at length by Josephus, and Josephus, 
being a Jew, would not be likely to gloss the 
truth concerning a man whom he considered 
as the tool of a usurping government. 
Pontius Pilate was not a philosopher — for nice 
distinctions in ethics he had no head, and for 
religious differences he had a most profound 
contempt. To him Jesus was only a Jew who 
had offended the Jews, and while he would 



iio W&t jfflan of g>orrotog 

save the man if he could, yet he was in Judea 
to preserve peace, and rather than risk a riot 
or seriously offend the people, he would let 
them have their way. Pilate's capitol was at 
Caesarea, and he only came down to Jerusalem 
during the feasts. He never had with him a 
force sufficient to quell an insurrection, even 
had he desired to do so J> The policy of all 
colonial governors is now, and was with the 
Romans, to allow the people to execute their 
own laws, excepting where vital issues are at 
stake, and the sovereignty in danger. 
Pilate was a diplomat. He had been a soldier 
before the influence of Sejanus had elevated 
him to the governorship of Judea, and life to 
a Roman soldier was cheap. Yet the dignity 
and poise of Jesus appealed to him. Finding 
that Jesus was from Galilee, Pilate put forth 
the excuse of lack of jurisdiction and said the 
man should be sent to the Galilean Governor 
for trial. 

Antipas Herod, tetrarch of Galilee, happened 
to be in Jerusalem at this time and Jesus was 
sent to him, followed by the priests & Herod 
was "glad to see him," and asked him to 
"perform some wonders," but he agreed with 
the priests that the offenses were committed 



{Efte jHan of g>orrotog in 

in Jerusalem, and so here was where the man 
should answer. In this they were right, and 
Pilate was forced to retreat from his position. 
•I Antipas Herod hated Pilate, and he would 
not free him from his disagreeable dilemma. 
Herod's share of his father's dominions had 
been only the provinces of Galilee and Peraea, 
and here was a brawny Roman soldier without 
a drop of royal blood in his veins, given, by 
the influence of a court favorite of Tiberius, 
authority over three provinces of Palestine and 
holding revels in the great white Praetorium 
built by Herod the Great! This explains the 
hatred. 

But another expedient suggested itself to the 
Procurator. It was the custom at the Feast of 
the Passover for the authorities to pardon one 
Jewish prisoner, and now if they would let 
this man go free Pilate would be glad. He 
suggested that they release Jesus, but their 
stony hearts were dead to pity and they cried 
aloud for Barabbas, a robber and an assassin, 
then in prison. 

Pilate, following precedent, was compelled to 
release the man for whom the people called, 
so Barabbas was given his liberty and a lasting 
place in history. 



112 gje jltan of gmrrotog 

The mob grew and the priests and Pharisees 
were bawling out in loud tones the supposed 
transgressions of Jesus. It is a curious fact that 
whenever a man is accused of one thing, there 
are always plenty of people who assume that 
he must therefore be guilty of various other 
crimes and misdemeanors. The cry of " Crucify 
him, crucify him, " again rang out, and it was 
taken up and echoed back and forth by those 
who never heard of the man before. A mob 
demands blood — it is demonism unmasked — 
only death will satisfy it ! 
One more chance was left to Pilate. It was 
a most desperate and brutal thing to do, but 
the experiment might work. If Jesus were 
publicly whipped then and there, the sight of 
his quivering flesh and the blood streaming 
down his bare back, might appease these cruel 
priests, so they would deem his punishment 
severe enough and let him go free. 
Pilate gave the order that the prisoner should 
be scourged. The Roman soldiers, impassive 
as machines, tore the clothing from the man, 
and a brawny lanista stepped forward with a 
whip made of leather; the thong sang through 
the air and fell upon the white flesh of the 
helpless, crouching victim. The scourging was 






fltye jHan of ^orrotog 113 

continued until Pilate ordered it stopped for 
fear of killing the sufferer. 
But the bellowing mob still cried, "Crucify 
him! Crucify him !" 

Pilate had only scorn and scathing derision for 
the priests. "Jews, behold your king!" he 
called out in ironical tones. And the answer 
was, "We have no king but Caesar — crucify 
him, crucify him!" Then they added, "We 
have a law and by our law he ought to die, 
because he made himself the Son of God!" 
<J Before this the Jews had lodged complaints 
against Pilate at Rome, and now if he let this 
man go free, who was accused of plotting to 
overthrow the State, there would be further 
charges, Pilate must protect himself. "Take 
ye him and crucify him — I find no fault in 
him!" 

Crucifixion was exclusively a Roman form of 
execution, reserved only for thieves, brigands 
and those guilty of unnameable crimes. The 
Romans used the sword for political offenses, 
or the victim was allowed to kill himself. But 
crucifixion was something else. It was similar 
to the custom now in vogue in some Christian 
countries of hanging a man by the neck with 
a rope until he is dead. Soldiers we shoot, but 



114 fcfc JWan of g>orrotog 

those whom we seek to disgrace, we hang. 
The Jewish Law provides that one who seeks 
to destroy Judaism shall be stoned — it does 
not anywhere provide for crucifixion. 
The plotting priests, in their wily wisdom, 
demanded that Jesus should be crucified, for 
this form of execution would throw the onus 
on the Romans. The Jews blamed the Romans 
for killing Jesus, and the Romans blamed the 
Jews. Both were right — and wrong — it was 
mob-law that did the deed, sanctioned by a 
Governor who could not prevent it, or at least 
thought he could not. The instigation was the 
work of the chief priests, lawyers and the sects 
known as the Pharisees and Sadducees. All 
these Jesus had grievously offended and they 
had their revenge. 

In passing, it is well enough to note that mobs 
are led, almost without exception, by citizens 
of prominence and worth. A man who has no 
influence in a community cannot get even a 
mob following Jk The man who hypnotizes 
a mob, practices hypnotism more or less as a 
business. He is a leader of men. 
The exact point where mob-rule begins and 
government ends, is hazy and indistinct. The 
jury is often profoundly moved by the shouts 



Wht jfflan of ^orrotog US 

of the crowd, and the judge who has not one 
ear close to the ground is a rare exception. 
Most legal executions are now, and ever have 
been, to appease the mob. When the people 
cry, "Crucify him, crucify him!" the courts 
have to obey. "Law is the crystallization of 
public opinion," said Lord Brougham. 
Courts hold their sessions on sufferance of the 
mob that elects them. The difference between 
a legal murder and a judicial execution has 
not, so far, been clearly defined. 
We are told that a lie always requires other 
lies to bolster it. This maxim is equally true 
of all departure from truth, reason and right. 
One misdeed sows the seeds of another. The 
number of murders, judicial and otherwise, 
that have grown out of this murder we are 
here considering, would stagger mathematics 
to express Jk The Crusades, the Inquisition, 
countless wars and fanatical sacrifices trace to 
that Judean mob. 



11^ ^te jtlan of gmrrotog 

^^^U^^ILATE'S decision was no sooner 
sW s^Jm made known than a loud howl of 

^B ^Jj satisfaction went up from the mob, 
^M \^M The priests and Pharisees had 
everything ready; for as in legal 
procedures the process is always 
well lubricated, so do the mob leaders always 
know beforehand just what they are going to 
do. It looks like chance, but it is not. 
Pilate had gone. A detachment of soldiers 
was standing near by with two thieves whom 
they were about to execute — probably they 
were detained so as to take a third victim! A 
cross was at hand — simply one rough plank 
nailed upon another in the form of a letter T. 
<J This cross was balanced on the back of the 
Nazarene — each of the thieves carried a cross 
— and the command was given to march. 
It was now near noon — the sun was burning 
hot. They had not gone far before Jesus fell, 
fainting under the burden jt Sleeplessness, 
suffering, fasting, all combined to have their 
way, and tired Nature flagged. 
The man was roughly lifted to his feet and 
once more the march began — the Nazarene 
stumbled forward, reeled and fell. 
Every Roman soldier had a superstitious dread 



Wbt gag of gortogg 117 

of carrying the cross — it was the instrument 
of death, and part of the victim's punishment 
was that he had to bear this symbol of his 
shame, disgrace and degradation. 
In England, not so many years ago, the man 
to be hanged had to carry his coffin, but this 
led to so many accidents that later the culprit 
rode in a flat-topped cart, seated on the box 
that was so soon to hold his body. 
As Jesus could not carry the cross and the 
soldiers would not, they seized a countryman, 
Simon the Cyrenian, by name, whom they 
met on the way, and compelled him to bear 
the disgraceful burden. Simon used often to 
tell of this terrible experience afterward — he 
fully thought he himself was to be executed. 
<][ Much of the disgraceful insult of the night 
before was now repeated. Jesus was brutally 
struck, spit upon, scoffed and scorned. During 
it all he bore himself proudly, silently, and 
without resentment or complaint. 
A march of a mile over a rocky road, much of 
it uphill, and the crowd reached Golgotha, 
"the place of the skull." The crosses were laid 
upon the ground. The victims were offered, as 
was the custom, a strong narcotic that would 
stupefy them, lessen the pain and also make 



118 ffifte jWan of gmrrotog 

them easier to manage, rendering resistance 

difficult. 

Jesus touched his lips to the bitter drink and 

put it away — he would endure the worst that 

his enemies could inflict. 

Each victim was stripped of all his clothing 

and stretched out upon the cross. Nails were 

driven through the hands and feet. A strong 

cord passing under the arms of each victim 

and over the top helped to carry the weight, 

so the nails would not tear through the flesh. 

<J Shallow holes were dug. The three crosses 

were uplifted and rocks piled around the bases 

to keep them in place. Jesus was in the middle 

and a thief on either side. 

Pilate had written on a board these words, 

"This is the King of the Jews," and sent it, 

by the soldiers, to be placed over the head of 

Jesus. 

There was something most ironical in this 

inscription. Pilate hated these fanatical Jews 

and hated them more for this frightful deed 

they had forced upon him. He would have the 

last word — they had killed their King ! 

The chief priests complained of this inscription 

— they declared it should have read, "This 

man called himself the King of the Jews." 



gEfte Jfflan of g>orrotog 119 

But Pilate said, "What I have written, I 
have written. " He would not erase or change 
the wording in any way: let them have the 
honors — and the disgrace. 
All of the disciples but John had disappeared. 
He remained in the distance with Mary, the 
mother of Jesus, and a band of faithful women. 
As the excitement of the mob died away and 
the onlookers grew accustomed to the terrible 
sight before them, John and the women came 
cautiously forward. 

One account says that Jesus recognized them, 
and seeing that John and his mother were 
near together, as they approached, he said to 
the disciple, "Behold thy mother, " and then 
to his mother, "Woman, behold thy son!" 
This seems hardly possible — Jesus would not 
imperil his friends by recognizing them. The 
agony for all of these was the greater because 
they could not express it. 
These friends were helpless. The soldiers were 
seated at the feet of their victims, waiting for 
them to die. They had divided the clothing of 
the crucified men among them and were now 
casting lots for it, as the clothing of the victims 
was a part of the executioners' perquisites. 
if The crowd around was hostile — there was 



120 fcfjc jgan of g>orrotog 

no sympathy for the sufferers — the mob had 

seen such sights before and had grown to relish 

them. The knowing ones pointed Jesus out 

and gave parts of his supposed history, "He 

called himself the Son of God! He came to 

save others, himself he cannot save ! " 

"He said he could destroy the Temple and 

build it up in three days. " 

"Let us see whether Elijah will come to save 

him!" 

A storm came up — the clouds grew dark and 

dense. 

The strained position produced a terrible pain, 

yet this torture Jesus might have endured, but 

his spirit was wrung by the insult, stupidity 

and ingratitude of those he saw before him. 

<$ Had he lived in vain? 

An awful agony wrenched his soul. He cried 

aloud, "My God, my God, why hast thou 

forsaken me ! " 

Consumed by a burning thirst, he begged for 

drink. A soldier, with more pity in his heart 

than we expect to see, saturated a sponge 

with vinegar and water, the drink the soldiers 

carried for themselves, and putting it on a reed, 

reached it up to the lips that had voiced so 

many words of tenderness and love— that had 



Wbt jllan of &orrotog 121 

said, "He who giveth even so much as a cup 

of cold water in my name, him will I not cast 

out." 

A person with dull and sluggish temperament 

might exist on the cross for two or three days. 

But Jesus, with his exquisite capacity for pain, 

and his delicate and sensitive nature, could not 

long endure such agony. 

For three hours he had hung there. He now 

felt the sleep of death creeping into his veins, 

his head drooped forward. Below he saw the 

soldiers; all around surged the waiting mob, 

watching his death struggles jfc He aroused 

himself and prayed, "Father, forgive them, 

for they know not what they do!" 

Another unconscious struggle — Nature trying 

to gain her freedom! 

Again he spoke — "Father, into thy hands I 

commend my spirit!" 

That proud head fell forward Jt The form 

relaxed, swayed, and hung limp and still upon 

the cross. 

A soldier with a spear pierced his side but 

there was no response of life. 

Death, in pity, had set the captive free. 



Here endeth THE MAN OF SORROWS, being 
a Little Journey to the Home of Jesus of 
Nazareth, by Elbert Hubbard jt A sincere 
attempt to depict the teachings, life and 
times, and with truth limn the personality 
of the Man of Sorrows. Done into a book by 
The Roycrofters at their Shop, in East Aurora, 
Erie Co., N. Y., Nineteen Hundred and Eight 
years from the birth of the Man of Sorrows 







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